


Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man

by koios



Series: Awake, chaos: we have napped [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbender Ty Lee (Avatar), Avatar Zuko (Avatar), Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Rated T for Toph, Slow Burn, Strong Language, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Yue (Avatar) Lives, Zhao (Avatar) Is An Asshole, ish, no beta we die like lu ten, team chaos avatar aka zukompany, the yueki was totally unplanned it just happened when i was writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 57,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26527480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koios/pseuds/koios
Summary: Ursa was allowed to hold her son one last time, and she kissed his head and whispered a prayer.Vaatu answered.OrZuko is lucky to be born, and even luckier to live. Vaatu accidentally becomes a single father. Zuko ends up accidentally abducting several members of high society and prepares to take down the Fire Lord, as Raava's incarnation hasn't been seen in a hundred years.Aang's sudden presence  throws a spanner in the works, and Sokka's blows up the whole damn machine.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Azula/A Safe and Loving Environment, June & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Past Jet/Zuko - Relationship, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar), The Gaang & Yue (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko, Yue & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Awake, chaos: we have napped [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936210
Comments: 289
Kudos: 944





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> Chaos Avatar Zuko AU based on Muffinlance's idea. Also inspired by Blade of Silver, Forge of Blue by MikkiOfTheAnbu

It shouldn’t have been possible, but Zuko was pretty sure he could remember the moment he met Vaatu. He had only been a few hours old, and no other memories remain, but the second the spirit touched him, he felt something he never forgot. He had been cold - that’s the only thing that predates the scene in his mind - and then a sudden feeling came over him. There were hundreds of words he could use to explain it, but nothing could fully describe the feeling of strength, power and warmth.

The warmth is what people are most surprised by when he describes it. He hadn’t known warmth until that moment, and then it was flooding him. According to his mother, there was a lot more to the story.

He was born in the middle of the night, at a time when even the midday sun was weak. His father had taken him from his mother’s arms, looked into his eyes, and decided he would be better dead. Father had never been one to delegate when it came to violence. The infant would be cast over the palace walls, and Ursa would bear another child. However many attempts it took to produce a bender worthy of the lines of Sozin and Roku.

It had taken the tearful begging of Princess Ursa and urgent pleas from the Fire Sages to delay the inevitable. Ursa was allowed to hold her son one last time, and she kissed his head and whispered a prayer.

Vaatu answered.

When Zuko opened his eyes again, Ursa gasped and blinked, seeing the flicker of flame in them. The Sages called it Agni’s blessing, a sure sign that the Prince was to live and become a powerful bender and leader.

Ozai grudgingly agreed, but he hated being defied. As a child, Zuko thought that was why his father despised him - his very birth and life were a rebellion against his wishes. Azula came into the world already sending the candles flickering. Perfect.

Father made it clear he loved Azula, and there was not enough love for two children. Mother said she loved them both equally, but she never sat with Azula by the turtleduck pond, and she never looked at Zuko with that strange, disturbed expression.

Mother believed in Vaatu though. She told Zuko she felt the moment they met too - his skin grew warmer, his eyes brighter. She told him about her prayer for someone to look after her son. She said she and the spirit had a common goal. That was probably why Vaatu always steered Zuko to her when he was hurt or upset.

Until she was gone, and grandfather was too.

In hindsight, it was rather funny that a great spirit of chaos was a better parental figure than his father. But Vaatu was always there, offering support and advice in his own... special... way. Zuko listened to him, but rarely actually did what he suggested - even at two he was pretty sure killing someone over a cookie was a bad idea. The spirit’s early attempts to be a parent were haphazard and clumsy, but Zuko still fondly remembered the little voice in his head saying ‘there, there, vessel. Don’t cry, you haven’t even started waterbending yet. One day your tears will drown your foes’.

Vaatu didn’t tell him much until he was ten, when suddenly everyone was telling him he needed to let go of his imaginary friend. The spirit explained that not everyone had a spirit with them, that Zuko was special - that he was an Avatar to rival Raava’s. At night, Vaatu lulled him to sleep with stories of Raava and Wan, and the multitudes that followed them. There was always a bitter undertone, but Zuko didn’t recognise it until Vaatu told him everything at thirteen.

His cousin was dead, his father was Fire Lord and his uncle was coming home. Uncle had been the only one other than his mother to listen when Zuko was younger. He would ask about Vaatu, and tell him about the games and people Lu Ten made up as a child. Even if no one believed him, it was nice to talk to uncle.

Then one day, the topic came up again. They were sitting drinking some tea uncle loved, and talking about anything and everything except the other members of their family. Uncle had brought up Zuko’s imaginary friend casually, and Zuko casually mentioned that Vaatu was real, and a spirit.

Uncle’s journey to the Spirit World was widely known of, and he hadn’t for a second doubted that uncle would be anything less than fascinated. But as soon as Zuko said ‘he’s a spirit, he’s still here’ an odd look had crossed uncle’s face. Then it was gone, and Zuko was too young to realise that this was now an interrogation - because uncle was listening to him and asking him questions like he mattered, something no one had done since mother left.

Two weeks later, he was summoned to the Fire Sages, and the rituals began.

———

The Sages tried everything they could, begging Zuko to help them get rid of the dark spirit inside him. But Vaatu was nice, and he’d never hurt Zuko. Vaatu had told him stories and sung Spirit World lullabies in a language no one knew, and promised him that one day he could be happy and free. Vaatu didn’t want to leave him either, and Zuko could almost feel the spirit curling protectively around him as the Sages tried ritual after ritual.

After six weeks and nineteen attempts, father got sick of waiting. He had an idea he wanted to try himself, and as much as Zuko wanted to keep Vaatu, he was not foolish enough to disobey the Fire Lord. All of the times he had forgotten that were burned into his skin. So he answered his father’s summons and knelt before him in the throne room.

He told Zuko that this was for his own good. A baptism of fire.

His father reached down and touched his face, with a startling gentleness. For a moment, Zuko wasn’t afraid. Then-

Then he woke up in agonising pain in a forest somewhere with Vaatu’s voice in his head swearing over and over that he would let no other being harm his vessel again.


	2. The Blue Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Equilibrium. It doesn’t last long.

People were whispering amongst themselves already, and Sokka couldn’t decide if he was sick of it, or secretly thrilled. Sure, the whispering was usually about Aang and the whole ‘world’s last hope and saviour’ thing, but they were Team Avatar. Some of the adoration was Sokka’s by default. His grin must have been poorly concealed though, as Katara rolled her eyes and shoved him.

“Sokka, if your ego gets any bigger, it’ll suffocate us all,”

He shoved her back, preparing for a water whip to the face, when something barrelled towards them - no- someone.

“Have you heard-“ The little girl started, breathless, eyes shining, “the spirit-“

“Yep, this is my buddy Aang,” He slung an arm around the airbender’s shoulder, “Bridge between the spirits and us, pretty much a spirit himself,”

Okay, maybe he should tone down the second-hand bragging, but he’d never say no to any form of hero worship.

“Um... what?” The kid stopped short, looking at them blankly.

“Avatar Aang,” Sokka repeated, “And I’m Sokka. You’ve probably heard of me too. I’m kinda the best warrior in the whole South Pole,”

Suki would have smacked him around the head for that one and laughed for at least ten minutes, but she didn’t need to know.

The girl raised an eyebrow, looking far too judgemental for a kid that could only be ten, at the most.

“You’re weird. The Blue Spirit’s the best warrior ever. He came back and made the Fire Nation people go away,” And then she turned and ran off, leaving Sokka with a spirit to track down and beat up to claim that title.

He pointedly ignored Katara’s snickering.

“A spirit!” Aang looked delighted, “That’s so cool, I want to talk to it!”

“Look, we don’t have time to stay here for prolonged spirit shenanigans,” Sokka tried to let him down gently, “We need to get to the North Pole, before that admiral guy shows up again,”

Being hunted by the Fire Nation was not fun, and Sokka had always assumed being a wanted man would be way more glamorous and exciting. There wasn’t even a poster with his face and a bounty on it yet. Just yelling and fireballs and a guy with truly atrocious sideburns trying to kidnap Katara’s new boyfriend. 0/10 would not recommend.

“We could stay a few days,” Katara suggested when Aang’s face dropped, “We need to map out our route and restock anyway,”

“Fine,” Sokka definitely did not pout, “But only a couple of days,”

There was an obnoxiously smug look on his sister’s face.

“What?”

“Are you seriously jealous that a little girl didn’t recognise you?”

“No! I’m jealous that she thinks this jerk is a better warrior!”

“You probably shouldn’t call spirits jerks, Sokka,” Aang said sagely.

“Oh thank you wise one for the avatar wisdom,” Sokka said dryly, “But until this guy shows me his magical spirit powers, I’m sticking with the theory that most ‘spirits’ are idiots in theatre masks,”

In hindsight, he shouldn’t have said that so loudly. Or publicly. Or in a town where everyone was excitedly whispering about their favourite spirit. Who was apparently better than Sokka.

“Careful, kid,” A vendor said, “The Blue Spirit isn’t one to mess with,”

“He’s been guarding us for three years,” Someone else piped up.

“He saved my daughter from drowning last year,”

“He caught the gang that was terrorising my neighbourhood,”

“He fought the Fire Nation singlehandedly!”

“I fought the Fire Nation singlehandedly,” Sokka grumbled, pulling Aang and Katara down the street, ignoring the looks he was getting.

“Technically, Suki, Aang and I-“

“Singlehandedly!”

———

There was a statue. There was a spirits-damned statue of the Blue Spirit in the middle of the square, and items that could only be offerings scattered around it. An unlit incense burner stood at its feet, laid on a blue cloth scattered with blue berries. Little trinkets, necklaces, small carvings - all blue, he was sensing a theme - hung off the statue or lay on the cobbles around it. Okay, this was apparently a deity he’d been calling a jerk. Sokka was not superstitious, but he was going to ask Aang how to avoid angry spirits for unrelated reasons.

“Uh, Sokka,” Aang said awkwardly, “I think you’ve been insulting an actual spirit. And, y’know, an important part of their culture. And...”

Sokka didn’t hear the rest, unable to tear his eyes away. The spirit’s face was a twisted grin, bright white and blue, starkly contrasting the all black body. The statue was wooden, upon closer inspection, but clearly hand carved. It stood only a foot or so taller than Sokka. But two things were drawing his attention most: the spirit’s eyes were holes in its head, but a deep red that almost seemed to glow; and the weapons strapped to its back.

The Blue Spirit had two damn swords. Sokka was going to get three.

———

They spent the rest of the day scouring the market for any supplies they might need - the rations from Hei Bai village were starting to run short.

Sokka was looking for soap when he found a Blue Spirit memorabilia stall. Action figures, really?

Katara maintained direct eye contact with him as she bought a Blue Spirit poster and then instructed him to carry it for her. He missed when she was two and a lot easier to just pick up and drop in a snowdrift.

•••

Zuko was halfway through his third attempt at cooking that afternoon when Toph barrelled into camp, grinning that savage grin that made him ask: “What have you done this time?”

“I haven’t done anything,” she protested, but that smile said otherwise.

“Toph, you’re one of my best friends,” Yue started, “But I don’t believe for one secon- Zuko! That’s on fire!”

A few minutes later, sitting around a pile of soggy ashes and charred noodles, the conversation continued. Zuko pointedly ignored the ‘at least you tried’ look on Yue’s face. She was an amazing waterbending teacher, so maybe this disaster was on him and not her education skills.

“As I was saying,” Toph started, “I have done absolutely nothing,”

Yue hid her soft chuckle in her sleeve.

“I don’t need seismic sense to know that’s complete bul-“

“Zuko!”

“- nonsense...”

“Thank you,”

“I did nothing,” Toph reiterated, rolling her eyes. Where had she even learned that? Who taught the blind girl to roll her eyes? Oh yeah, almost definitely June.

“Okay, what didn’t you do?” Zuko was not an expert on kids, but Toph was way more like tiny Azula than he’d admit, and this was his area of expertise.

“I didn’t do anything except innocently walk through town like the innocent person I am, and I innocently overheard some doofus talking shi-“

“Toph!”

“- talking cra-“

“No!”

“- talking rubbish, MOM!”

“Thank you,”

“About the Blue Spirit,” Toph finished, that wicked grin reappearing on her face. 

“Just the Blue Spirit?” Zuko asked, already knowing where this was going and not liking it one bit.

“Just the Blue Spirit. We have to defend your honour, Sparky!”

“No,” Zuko said instantly.

“That might not be the best idea,” Yue said.

“I don’t give a fu- I don’t care,”

Yue shot Zuko a look he knew all too well. It was the ‘you technically abducted this child, your problem’ look. He returned it with the ‘you signed up for this, you’re my co-parent’ look.

“I can sense you guys doing that thing again,”

“Look, people can say whatever they want about the Blue Spirit,” 

“Talk shit, get hit,”

“Toph!”

“Hey, that’s the only way it rhymes!”

“No one is getting hit!” Zuko could feel the whole situation rapidly spiralling out of control. “Anyway, you’re obviously just annoyed he didn’t mention you,”

“What? No.” Toph deadpanned, “I care so much more about your honour.”

June must have taught her that too. Zuko ignored Yue giggling, which was definitely enabling their sort-of child’s rebellious phase. 

“Okay, how about this,” he started, “- we do things like we normally do, and maybe this guy gets dropped into a hole. Maybe a certain spirit is in that hole with him. Maybe that guy learns never to forget about certain spirits again,”

Toph was grinning even wider, and Zuko valiantly tried not to grin back. They were both enablers, but he’d never claimed to be a good parental figure.

“I love you, Sparky. You’re my favourite,”

“Hey!”

“Yue doesn’t qualify, she never lets me throw rocks at people,”

“Zuko lets you do what?!”

———

June arrived an hour or so before sunset.

“Miss me, losers?”

Zuko didn’t look up from polishing his swords. “Didn’t even notice you left,”

“Fuck you too,”

Yue didn’t even bother chiding June about swearing anymore, which was probably because she was smart enough not to fight a losing battle. 

“And you call me weird for punching people to show affection,” Toph muttered.

June flopped down next to her, managing to ruffle her hair for a good two seconds before being bodily thrown off by a rock to the chest. “I have full faith in you developing an expansive cursing vocabulary, kid. You’ll be calling Zuko a dumbass before you know it,”

“Trust me, she does. Frequently,”

“Then stop being a dumbass, dumbass,”

“Stop being a bitc-“

“Zuko!”

He could never win. When he turned to glare at her, Yue was barely concealing her smirk as she bent their finally-edible soup into bowls.

“One day, I’ll master waterbending just so I can throw that soup in your face and live,”

“I’m sure you’ll get there someday,”

Most people underestimated Yue, with her polite and calm demeanour, and delicate appearance. But Zuko had learned not to underestimate any girl the second Azula had produced her first angry flame. Both of his bending teachers were forces of nature themselves, which he was very aware of, and often told Toph to minimise risk of being buried up to his neck in rocks (their first lesson taught him his least favourite part of earthbending). Yue was far less intense, but he had seen her fight when the situation demanded it, and being on the other end of her attacks was nightmare fuel. 

June, at least, would kill him with her bare hands if it came to it. 

———

Patrolling the town had become harder and harder over the years, as people became more and more determined to see their ‘spirits’ in person. Admittedly they also had less to do, as few criminals were willing to risk the wrath of what they believed to be the town’s inhuman guardians. But it was always awkward to be running across a rooftop when someone yelled “Hey, mister Blue Spirit, over here!”

It was usually not followed by “Come down here and fight me, jerk!”

This time, it was a face he didn’t recognise when he turned (and he always turned, because it was usually a kid and he was weak for polar-puppy dog eyes). The guy looked to be a teenager, dressed in blue, flanked by two others, looking embarrassed.

“Sorry, mister spirit, he doesn’t mean any disrespect!” The one dressed in orange called- and wait, were they airbender tattoos?

Zuko almost fell off the roof. He covered it with a hopefully graceful looking descent onto the cobbles, somehow pulling off a silent and painless landing.

“Hey!” The idiot yelled, “You’re not a spirit!”

Then Vaatu took the reins, and Zuko let him, because he wanted to see the look on the idiot’s face.

•••

Sokka fucked up. Sokka fucked up real bad.

Okay, so yes, it was apparently a mask, but judging by the sudden glowing, the thing under the mask was not human, as he had assumed. The statue had not been wrong. The spirit had two swords and two glowing eyes, and Sokka had none of those things. Red light emitted from the previously black eye holes, and he could swear the mask’s grin grew wider.

The noise Sokka made was very manly and very not high pitched.

“Would you like to check again, mortal?” The spirit asked, with what seemed to be two voices at once.

Sokka made another manly not-squeaking noise. 

And the spirit laughed, both old and young, high and low, loud and soft. And then it flew back onto the roof in one fluid movement - like the jump Aang had pulled off when he came out of the iceberg, but with more glowing. Then the spirit’s eyes turned black again, and it was off running at inhuman speed across the rooftops.

Sokka turned to Aang and Katara, ready for some comforting words like ‘wow Sokka, that was a totally manly scream’, but no. The traitors were laughing at him. Hard. Katara was doubled over, clutching her stomach and shaking with silent mirth. Aang was clearly trying to quiet his giggling, but not trying nearly hard enough in Sokka’s opinion.

“I, uh , think that was a spirit, Sokka,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally called ‘Sokka Tries to Fight God’


	3. The Badgermole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zhao gets punched in the face, Sokka finds religion and Zuko takes a nap

The walk back to camp was broken up by Aang and Katara periodically bursting out laughing, and Sokka stomping ahead, fuming about ‘stupid jerk spirits’ and ‘two swords, who does he think he is’.

The spirit had laughed at him. This was going to take a while to live down; Katara had barely stopped bringing up the ‘two fishhooks’ incident. And then the sky spirit decided to mock him too, sending down rainfall that had him drenched in a minute flat. Great. Wonderful. Sokka loved the universe.

But he barely had a few minutes to brood when the yelling started. The three froze for a second, before coming to the silent agreement that running directly into danger was their thing now. Sokka grabbed his boomerang, taking off just behind Katara as Aang took to the sky in his glider. It was almost fully dark, but the town in the distance was well lit. Light flashed up over the houses, bathing the streets in its brightness.

Fire Nation.

Sokka’s lungs would ache later, when the adrenaline wore off.

He and Katara weaved through side streets, skidding into the square just moments after Aang landed, sliding into combat stances as easy as breathing. The townspeople were gathered into small groups, watching apprehensively from their doorways as a sea of red and black advanced.  
And at the front of them was Sokka’a second least favourite person. 

Zhao.

But he apparently hadn’t seen or heard them yet, which was a waste of a perfectly good dramatic entrance. 

“I know the Avatar was here,” he addressed the crowd, “And we can all be on our way, unharmed, if you tell me where he is,”

Katara grabbed Sokka’s arm, pulling him and Aang back into an alleyway.

“Wait a moment,” she whispered, “Aang, go get Appa, lead him away. Sokka and I can distract him if we need to,”

Sokka nodded grimly. Zhao wouldn’t back off until he either had Aang or a new destination to chase him to. And if the villagers were unhelpful, he would not hesitate to burn the place to ash. Thankfully he hadn’t got that far before, but not for lack of trying.

Just as Aang was unfurling his glider, Zhao lunged, grabbing a terrified old woman. White hot rage filled Sokka’s veins, clawing at his eyes and throat. He remembered the South Pole, Gran-Gran being pulled away from Katara, how he could do nothing. And he was moving, boomerang suddenly in hand, before he even realised what he was doing.

“Where is the Av-“

He was a few steps into the town square when the rain stopped.  
Completely.

Behind him, Katara let out a strangled gasp. Sokka reached out a slightly shaking hand and watched as the water droplets, suspended in midair, seemed to deflate and drip down his skin. The crowds were murmuring, the soldiers muttering.

Then the ground split open, and chaos erupted. Zhao was thrown back into the group of Fire Nation soldiers with a cry of outrage as the earth started shaking and cracking, somehow leaving the buildings and townspeople intact. 

“Spirits,” someone whispered reverently.

Then the spirits themselves appeared, all looking like people in masks, but Sokka wouldn’t make that mistake again. A red mask with a grin to rival the Blue Spirit’s appeared from the alleyway opposite them, dressed in the same black, but with stark white hair exposed. It was flying around their face as they moved, but somehow still smooth and sleek, half braided with blue beads that seemed to glint in the half light.

The Blue Spirit appeared out of apparently nowhere, landing gracefully with a roll in front of the soldiers, unsheathing those swords as he went, and back on his feet with blades crossed at Zhao’s throat in one fluid movement. Sokka couldn’t even bring himself to be mad that the guy had stolen what would have been an awesome attack on Sokka’s part. Everyone was silent for a tense moment, then everything vanished in the blink of an eye.

Or Sokka vanished. Because he blinked and suddenly it felt like he was falling, but when he opened his eyes, the town was gone. The air suddenly felt thinner, and the dark was so dense he could almost feel it.

He was underground, he realised with a jolt. He must have fallen into one of the crevasses that opened when the spirits arrived. But why had it closed over him? It was definitely a cave, with some traces of light, because when his eyes started to adjust, he could make out the outlines of rocky walls. And the badgermole that was practically nose to nose with him.

“So, I heard you’re not a fan of spirits,”

•••

Everything happened so fast Katara could barely process that her brother had just been yanked into the ground in front of her. Aang looked just as floored as she was, gawking at crack in the street where Sokka had been.

Katara stared blankly at the ground. “What the-“

And then there was a roar of fire, and she looked up just in time to see the Blue Spirit dodge Zhao’s attack and punch the smug bastard in the face. She would relive that happy moment for the rest of her life. 

But there was no time to think now, and two spirits couldn’t hold off that many troops alone, even if the Blue Spirit had apparently done it before. The red and blue masks were practically blurs as the two leaped into a fray of fire and steel.

“Aang, I need you to find Sokka.” There was no time to panic now, they had to act. “I’ll deal with the soldiers.”

“But Katara, please-“

“Please get my brother back, Aang. A spirit must have taken him, I can’t deal with them like you,”

She turned, fixing him with a pleading look she knew was borderline manipulative. He hesitated for only a moment, before nodding once. His grey eyes were almost stormy with determined resolve.

Uncapping her waterskin, she allowed herself only a moment to think before sending a water whip towards the nearest firebender, extinguishing his flame and knocking him back in one movement. She was by no means a master yet, but she could do enough to make the soldiers wish they’d never set foot in the village.

They were only a few feet apart when he turned, and she could see amber eyes narrowing beneath the helmet. Before he could strike, she gathered her water again and threw it with as much force as she could muster, sending him stumbling back a few paces. The next strike swept his legs out from under him, and she didn’t give herself time to make sure he stayed down before running past him. 

She hadn’t even noticed all the frozen raindrops disappearing until her eyes locked into the Red Spirit. They stood, half surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers, but moving with effortless grace. 

And they were waterbending. 

Katara stifled a gasp, eyes locked on the spirit as they pulled the rain down in one movement and sent a dozen soldiers flying back with another. That form was not from any scroll she’d seen - did spirits have their own bending styles? They moved with the water, guiding rather than controlling it. It reminded Katara of the ocean, the spirit sending waves out and pulling them in like they knew the tides personally. It was more like dancing than fighting, but Katara didn’t doubt for a second that the dance could turn deadly.  
It was the most beautiful bending she had ever seen.

Her reverie only lasted a moment, and reality came crashing back as heat struck her back like a solid object. Katara flung herself forward, instinctively pulling her water down with her and flinging it up as she rolled over. It moved smoother than it ever had. Guiding, not controlling. The soldier hissed as they were thrown onto their back, giving Katara time to stumble to her feet. But she was surrounded now, she realised with dawning dread.

Five surrounded her, two in front and three behind. They seemed to hesitate, but Katara couldn’t afford to. Her attack was sloppy, but it was better than nothing. She turned the water to ice as it slammed into the two in front of her, freezing them to the ground; she spun to face the other three not a second too late, ducking under the flames they shot with chilling precision. She desperately hoped the Red Spirit wouldn’t mind her using some of their water, as she pulled up what she could off the wet cobbles. It wasn’t enough.

She had enough for a small water whip, lashing it as fast as she could at the advancing figures. Only enough to make them stumble, and she wasn’t quick enough to hold them back for long.  
Strike, step back, call the water back, repeat.  
Her lungs were starting to burn from the smoke in the air and the ragged breaths she was dragging in. 

She didn’t notice the uneven cobble until she stumbled over it, landing painfully on her left arm. The soldiers were above her, and one reached out, flames flickering on their fingertips. That would have been the last thing her mother ever saw.

Katara closed her eyes. Had her mom done that too?

•••

Vaatu hadn’t meant to get attached. The whole Spirit World would be laughing if they knew it had taken him less than three mortal weeks to start doting on his vessel like it was his child. Which it was now. Because he’d called the vessel ‘son’ by sort-of accident, and there was no taking that back. So Zuko-slash-vessel was his child now, and, as it turned out, most human children were cute. Zuko had told him that made him a ‘kid person’, and he wasn’t about to argue with his primary source on human language and customs.

So Vaatu was a kid person, and there was a kid in danger. His vessel was fighting with a fury he had to admire, but easily let him in when Vaatu carefully started taking control. Trust, his vessel had called it. There was no resistance as he took over, still feeling the shock of essentially becoming human, no matter how many times he did it. Two arms, two legs, the handles of dao blades in his ten fingers, and all of the sound and light rushing in at once. He never realised how different it was to not have a physical form, and it struck him every time. But he wasn’t quite human, and the man opposite him realised that the second Vaatu’s eyes started glowing red. He always took more pleasure than his vessel in seeing fear in people’s eyes. Especially this man.

But he didn’t kill Zhao. 

Zuko hated killing, even when it was only his body, not his mind. Vaatu considered it for a heartbeat (a heart beating in his chest was something he would never get used to) before throwing the man into a wall across the square with a blast of air, and turning to the girl he had seen fall. 

Using the swords whilst in Zuko’s body was easy, etched into muscle memory, so he rarely bothered bending in situations like this. But he did have the advantage of sheer power, taking down one man with the hilt of a sword to the head and fending the other two off with a flurry of quick slashes. They met his glowing eyes, and ran. Good.

He turned to the girl. The fear in her eyes reminded him of all the times he saw it in his vessel. His child. And now this child was scared too, and he realised he would burn the world to ashes never to see that look from a mortal child again.

“Do not fear me, child." He knew the voice that came from his vessel’s mouth when Vaatu spoke was not a comforting sound, but the girl nodded, eyes wide, and took his outstretched hand. He could still feel the tremor under her skin, and he tried to be gentle as he pulled her to her feet.

When he turned back to the other combatants, only half of the original numbers seemed to have stayed. Adult human fear was far more entertaining. One or two seemed seconds from fleeing, but Vaatu’s second least favourite human was not one of them. Zhao stood tall, a confident sneer on his face. 

Vaatu did not kill him, but it was a close thing. 

He and his vessel lunged as one, swords flashing. The great spirit stopped smothering his rage, and felt it turn electric, wreathing steel with lightning. Three of Zhao’s men fled the second the dao started sparking, but the Admiral stood his ground, then lunged.

He fought furiously, which was what made him weak. Vaatu loved his vessel, and was often moved to anger to protect him, but knew better than to let anything cloud the thoughts he needed for combat. It was with detached precision he dodged or dispersed the fire storm being flung at him, dissipating blasts with a flick of a blade. Two more men fled.

Tui’s child was suddenly next to him, pushing and pulling a river of rainwater and effortlessly freezing four men to the ground. Her hair flowed like water, and he hoped she knew how much Tui and La adored her. He would tell her one day. Now, he had to reduce the Admiral to nothing and put the fear of the spirits into him. Zuko moved with him. This was a fight they had both wanted for a long time.

Vaatu sheathed the swords. Zuko had already punched the man in the face, and the great spirit was very much hoping to do the same. So what if it was petty? Vaatu had had centuries to develop a petty streak a continent wide. The Admiral had the audacity to laugh, and Vaatu shut him up with a rock pillar to the face. Through the vibrations in the rock, he felt something crack.  
When Zhao looked up again, his scowl was bloody. Vaatu reached out, draining water from the air and summoning a wave that crashed down as ice. With a blast of fire, half of the attack was vaporised, but enough hit home to give Vaatu a rush of satisfaction. Zhao hit the ground, failing to fully soften his landing.

“Leave this place.” He was now glad of the way his voice made people tremble. Zhao hid it better than most, but that spark of fear filled the great spirit with grim delight. “Leave this place now, and you can do it alive.”

“You think a minor spirit with a few tricks can scare me?” Zhao hissed, “And one in a mortal form at that? I could kill your body and send you back to the depths of the Spirit World in half a minute,”

“Minor spirit?” Some of Vaatu’s rage was seeping into his venomous tone. “Unfortunately for you, even the Spirit World would not dare take me back,”

Summoning lightning was an exhilarating feeling. Raw power coursed through him - this feeling was the best part of inhabiting a human body. But Zuko’s heart stuttered, and that was what stopped Vaatu. That learned fear, that reared its head whenever the sky flashed blue, made him aim at the ground at the Admiral’s feet. It still sent him flying back a good distance, and that was an even better feeling, especially when his vessel’s relief coursed through him. 

Zhao ran, and Vaatu didn’t know if it was him or Zuko grinning under the mask.

•••

Toph couldn’t believe she’d missed all the action. Sure, giving that guy lifelong nightmares was fun, but she’d wanted to beat up Zhao ever since Zuko told her about him. She finished their ‘little talk’ and brought them back to the surface just in time to feel Zuko in full avatar mode, Yue checking on some terrified townspeople, and at least ten soldiers running out of town like their lives depended on it. They probably did.

“Sokka!” Someone yelled, and Toph could feel delight and relief in every step as they ran up to her prisoner. Oops, she had abducted someone’s friend. Well, that was Zuko’s problem, serves the idiot right for sort-of adopting her.

When the girl let go, Toph gave the boy a sharp punch for good measure.

“Don’t forget, I want an altar and offerings,”

“Yes miss spirit lady,” he squeaked, “I’ll start on the statue tomorrow, ma’am,”

“Good. And make it bigger than the Blue Spirit’s,”

As she walked away, she could hear the girl incredulously ask “what the heck happened down there?” And the boy respond “I found religion. Or religion found me and punched me until I accepted it.”

The crowd that had formed around Zuko and Yue parted for her easily, and she smirked under her mask. They might not have mentioned her to the newcomers, but they never forgot her due hero worship. She could feel the spirit’s power coursing through Zuko, but it was ebbing now. As soon as Vaatu started backing off, her personal heater would be asleep for some time. Not that she minded, it was easier to hog his body heat when he was too tired to fend her off.

Yue was gesturing, silently asking the murmuring crowd to let them leave, most likely. The people parted again, and Vaatu/Zuko grabbed her hand the second they were in the woods. This was allowed, for now. She could feel the anxiety under his skin. Any other time, she would have rock punched him for being a sap.

\------

They reached camp, and after a murmured greeting to a bemused and amused June, Vaatu released his hold fully and Zuko collapsed dramatically next to the fire.

“What a dumbass,” June said, barely hiding the undercurrent of fondness as she pulled off his mask and swords and rolled him onto a sleeping mat.

They’d talk about it tomorrow, especially Zhao and how Zuko was going to deal with his past coming knocking. And the airbender. The Avatar - Raava’s avatar - as the boy had told her.  
“My friend is the avatar, please don’t kill me, he’ll be really disappointed in you! That’s way worse than it sounds, trust me. Okay please stop throwing rocks at me! I’ll build you a whole temple!”

For now, she dropped down beside Zuko, definitely for his benefit and not because she was tired. The greatest earthbender in the world didn’t get tired. She only fell asleep because he was a living heat pack. And the beating of his heart under her skin was nice too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some flashbacks of Zuko's gang getting together written, but no clue where to put them in. Please let me know whether you want the next chronological chapter or Zuko meeting Toph next!


	4. Avatar 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Team Avatars meet, one Team Avatar has no idea how to deal with it

Sokka was the only one feeling a reasonable level of fear as they walked back to camp. Aang was buzzing with excitement, determined to find and talk to the Blue Spirit tomorrow, and Katara was equally thrilled about the waterbending she had seen.

“Can we not provoke the spirits?” Sokka asked weakly, still wondering how on Earth he was going to get carving skills good enough to appease the Badgermole by tomorrow. He really should not have promised a temple.

“Are you kidding? That was the best waterbending I’ve ever seen!” Katara exclaimed, “I have to learn from them!”

“We could both learn from those guys!” Aang cried, “Then I don’t have to search the whole world for one good firebender!”

“It’s too dangerous!” Sokka shot back, “Spirits are not to be messed with, and they punch really hard!”

Katara was quietly snickering at him. “Are you really changing your whole view on them became an earth spirit hit you?”

“That spirit was a force of nature no one could ever hope to fight against and-“

“That spirit was half your height and sounded like a ten year old girl,” Katara pointed out.

“That’s what she wants you to think! She-“

“Wasn’t a spirit.” Aang said suddenly, “Neither was the Red Spirit. I could feel spirit energies, but only from the Blue Spirit.”

Sokka and Katara gaped at him, but Aang continued, unbothered.

“I think they were just benders, pretending to be spirits. But the blue one was definitely a powerful spirit. I’ve never felt one so strong.”

“So you’re telling me,” Sokka said weakly, “that I was abducted by a little girl, and promised to worship her for the rest of my living days, and she wasn’t even a SPIRIT?!”

“Pretty much,” Aang said brightly, “but she was an amazing earthbender! If we find them, between her and the Red Spirit, I could learn earth and waterbending!”

“You should have seen the Red Spirit bend,” Katara said, almost dreamily, “she was more like a spirit than any actual spirit I’ve seen.”

“I don’t think Hei Bai is a good reference for all spirits, Katara. And we can find a master at the North Pole way easier - these guys have been here two years and no one in the village can track them! We don’t have a chance of finding them unless they want us to. And we’ll be safer from the Fire Nation up North!”

“The spirits here managed to get rid of the Fire Nation twice, we might even be safer here. And what about earthbending?” Aang pointed out, “Anyway, we need to stay here a while. Sokka, you can’t build a statue overnight.”

Sokka had just decided he was going to punch the Avatar when Katara, walking up ahead of them, stopped. After a moment, he heard it too - voices. There was another camp up ahead, if the faint glow of firelight was anything to go by.

“We could start by asking some other travellers!” Aang was ever the optimist, and then the idiot walked right into a group of strangers’ camp.

•••

June was not paid enough to deal with this shit. Heck, she wasn’t even paid. Admittedly, she had basically signed up for this, but travelling with the Avatar of Chaos included way more babysitting than chaos, which she was slightly pissed about. But she still liked it. Though she was loath to admit it, the kids were sweet, and Vaatu was a riot.

June was, for some spirits-forsaken reason, the closest thing they had to a responsible adult. Or just an adult. Zuko was responsible, but that was probably a trauma thing, and Yue was responsible, but needed to learn to relax. She didn’t like thinking about why the kids were the way they were. Toph was wild because she was never allowed to be; Yue was calm and polite because she’d never been given the chance to be otherwise; Zuko... well, his favourite toy as a child had been a knife and his parental figure was the literal embodiment of darkness and chaos. June didn’t want to think too hard about that.

The kids had grown on her. Like algae. Or mould. She was, as Toph would say, ‘ride or die’.

So that was why she was 100% ready to throw down with the twelve year old pacifist that walked into camp unannounced.

•••

Aang hadn’t exactly been expecting a welcome party or anything, but he definitely hadn’t seen the knife coming. Well, knives. Two of them, pointed at him, by the tall scary lady with the big scary shirshu next to her.

“Hi!” Aang said brightly, trying not to think about how pointy those knives were, “I’m Aang, nice to meet you. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the spirits, would you?”

“June, he’s a kid. Don’t point knives at him,” the girl behind her chided. She stepped around into view from behind the snarling shirshu, white hair tumbling over her shoulders like beams of moonlight.

“Why would you want to know about the spirits?” June asked, only lowering one knife. The gaze she fixed on Aang was intense, her dark eyes narrowed. She exuded confidence, with a harsh determination that made Aang uncertain he could take her on, even in the avatar state. Not that he really wanted to, if at all possible.

“Look, we’re sorry to bother you,” Katara said nervously, attempting to yank Aang back by his tunic, “we’ll leave you to whatever you were doing.”

Aang was about to argue when Sokka made an odd noise. Sokka made a lot of odd noises, but this was new. Aang turned to see his eyes wide, staring at a pile of items around the campfire. A pile of weapons and masks around the campfire.

And two apparently unconscious kids, but the masks were probably his focus.

June’s eyes narrowed.

“You guys are the spirits!” Sokka practically yelled, and Katara slapped a hand over his mouth.

Before anyone else could react, the girl behind June moved. With one graceful gesture, Aang, Sokka and Katara were frozen to a tree before they even had time to wonder where the water came from. Aang realised with a start that, while she was undoubtedly human, something that felt almost spirit-y was definitely present in her bending. She moved with too much grace and precision, more than he had seen even in master waterbenders before the iceberg.

Sokka spluttered “Wha- how did y- that was-“

“Amazing!” Katara exclaimed, before she could really stop herself.

“We don’t want to fight!” Aang tried to placate them, “We were just trying to find you to talk.”

June levelled them another hard look. “Then talk.”

•••

Toph was woken up by nervous stammering, which was weird, because Zuko was still fast asleep next to her. She stirred, placing a palm flat on the ground, and felt three more people than she should have. June and Yue were stood between her and Zuko and the newcomers, June tense and angry, and Yue collected, but not calm. Toph was getting better and sensing water, and she was pretty sure the three strangers were currently icicles.

“I swear we won’t tell anyone! We just need to discuss something with you guys and then we can go! We can go right now! Please let us go right now-“

That obnoxious rambling was oddly familiar. Toph slammed her hand down, pushing herself to her feet with a pillar of earth, and turned in the general direction of that distinctive voice.

“You! Where’s my ritual sacrifice?”

The boy let out a half scared, half indignant squawk.

“You’re the Badgermole? You really are just a kid!”

Wrong answer. Toph stomped a foot down, and with a practiced kick, sent a few dozen pebbles into whatever parts of him weren’t encased in ice.

“Can we please just talk?” A new voice practically begged from beside her victim, “Look, I don’t usually pull this card, but I’m the Avatar!”

There was a beat of silence. Then Toph couldn’t hold in her laughter, half hysterical. June was snickering too, and Yue was choking back her soft giggle. It took Toph a good minute to finally calm down, Yue patting her on the back.

“He is!” The girl protested, “Let him go and he can show you. Aang’s the last Airbender.”

The last part was quieter, and Toph could feel sadness piercing through the irritation.

“I’m not doubting he’s the Avatar, Sweetness,” Toph grinned, then another chuckle broke out before she could stop it. “Holy shit, Sparky found the Avatar. Can you wake him up Snowflake? Please? I want to see his face when he hears this.”

Yue never fell for the blind jokes, but Toph was always willing to try.

“Zuko needs sleep,” she chided gently, “and I’m not treating a heart attack alone.”

“How in La’s name is that guy still asleep?” The obnoxious boy asked, “also who is he? Because I’m pretty sure the rude kid is the Badgermole, Ice Lady is the Red Spirit and the Blue Spirit is some magical spirit-y force of nature.”

“Wrong,” June said, and Toph could hear the feral grin on her face, “That-“ she nudged Zuko with her foot “is the great Blue Spirit,”

There was a pause, then: “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Sokka! Don’t insult spirits!”

“But he can’t be,” the other boy with a voice like air said, “I felt the Blue Spirit’s energy. He wasn’t human.”

“When the guy wakes up, you’ll see exactly how not-quite-human he is,” June snickered.

As if on cue, Toph felt Zuko stir. Which he shouldn’t have been doing, because Avatar Things usually knocked him out for at least eighteen hours straight. Then he sat up, way too fast, heart beating double-time.

“Toph-“

She felt it too. The faint vibrations, soft tremors coming through the earth, barely noticeable but definitely there.

“Fire Nation.” She said sharply, “We have to move.”

There was a loud swish of water as Yue released their captives, who fell to the ground with three rather amusing thuds. Toph would laugh later, when she didn’t have to clear camp and wrangle a half conscious Chaos Avatar into the saddle of a temperamental shirshu.

“Fire Nation?” The girl asked incredulously, “They just left! Are you sure they’re back?”

“Probably here to deal with the local ‘spirit problem’," Toph said, "Are you doubting the world’s greatest earthbender and the second avatar?”

“The second WHAT?!”

Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be posting the backstory of Zuko’s team in another work, and adding both to a series, so keep an eye out for that! It’ll probably come out pretty soon after this, because I have quite a bit written already


	5. A brushstroke or a blade of grass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spirit shenanigans, Aangst, Me Making Sokka Suffer for Fun and Yueki. This became a lot longer than usual, so I split it into this and a shorter/mini chapter for next time (it’s still my favourite so far, despite being shorter). Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for next time: Zuko’s nap gets eventful

One of the advantages of being a spirit was that Vaatu never needed to sleep. At this moment, however, he wished he could.

“The SECOND AVATAR?!” The boy in blue was screeching, clinging to the shirshu’s saddle and somehow managing to be louder than the air rushing past as it ran. His vessel was fast asleep again, blissfully unaware that his existence was apparently causing multiple heart attacks.

“Escape now, talk later,” June ordered.

“The second avatar,” the boy mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

The tiny bald monk was keeping up a constant chatter about spirits and destiny, and Vaatu wished spirits could have hair so he could pull his out. His avatar was clearly the only avatar he could stand. Damn you, Raava.

“We can talk about this when we get to your camp,” June snapped, shooting a glare at the group precariously balanced on the shirshu’s saddle. Raava’s avatar had produced a clump of bison hair for the beast to track, and judging by the look on his face, much preferred travel via flying bison. Good. If Vaatu could spend millennia in a tree, Raava’s spawn could deal with a shirshu ride.

Yes, he was being petty, but he was also a great spirit and no one but his currently unconscious vessel could call him out on it.

Vaatu was overall having a pretty good time until they reached the camp, and Yue pulled out the turtleduck.

•••

“Why are you holding a turtleduck?” Sokka asked, focusing on the little questions first because they made his head hurt less.

The tiny blind girl/terrifying spirit scoffed at him. “To summon the chaos spirit, dumbass.”

“Is that...” he shot a wary look at Aang, “is that a thing...?”

The kid just shrugged.

Sokka’s headache was not going away any time soon.

•••

Vaatu did not like the turtleduck method. It was frankly embarrassing and he had had enough of being laughed at by mortals. At two, Zuko had once described his dream form as a ‘friendly triangle’ and he was still not over it. It was for Zuko, and Zuko alone, that he was doing this.

•••

Katara didn’t know enough about spirits to say this was weird, but she was pretty sure this was weird. The guy - who was apparently the second avatar - was somehow still asleep when the little earthbender dropped him off the shirshu and the waterbender carefully put a turtleduck on his head.

Then the turtleduck ruffled its feathers, started glowing an ominous red, and grumbled “I hate being a turtleduck.”

Katara had to be dreaming. There was no way this was happening. She was going to wake up any minute in an igloo at the South Pole, with zero avatars and otter penguins everywhere that didn’t speak or complain about being otter penguins.  
Next to her, Sokka sat down with a thud and buried his head in his hands. Yeah, he had the right idea.

“Oh, we should probably introduce ourselves,” the waterbender said, like this was casual small talk, “I’m so sorry, we’ve been rude.”

“It’s fine,” Katara said faintly, “I’m Katara, this is my brother Sokka,” she gestured weakly in his direction, “and this is Aang. The avatar. Or not, I don’t know at this point.”

The other group all looked completely unfazed, which made the whole situation even more surreal.

“Lovely to meet you,” the waterbender smiled softly, “I’m Yue.”

“June,” the tall woman said with a smirk, clearly finding this whole thing very amusing.

“Toph, world’s greatest earthbender, earth rumble champion.” Okay, they didn’t have time to unpack all that right now. “And that’s Zuko.”

“Cool,” Aang said, managing to keep up his chipper tone whilst also sounding as perplexed as Katara felt, “and the turtleduck?”

“I am the great spirit Vaatu, bringer of chaos and master of darkness!”

“Um... great!” Aang said after a beat of silence, “Nice to meet you!”

“I take no joy in crossing paths with Raava’s vessel.”

“Who... who’s Raava?”

June groaned, flopping down to sit next to Zuko. “Oma and Shu, kid, don’t get him started on Raava!”

•••

Vaatu got started on Raava.

•••

Aang had always been pretty confident he knew a lot about spirits. But he definitely should have paid more attention to Gyatso telling him ‘the spirit world is a vast ocean, and every spirit a raindrop, wave or tide. You cannot hope to comprehend every drop, only hope to one day see the vastness of the sea’.  
Aang had been too busy perfecting the air scooter that day.

“So... you’re the avatar spirit- I mean, an avatar spirit. Does that mean there’s even more?”

“No,” the turtleduck/great spirit snapped, “I told you, Raava is my equal and oppsite, and I hers. We are two sides of the same coin, as are our avatars.”

“But why can we talk to you but not my avatar spirit?” He decided not to name Raava again, because judging by the first rant, Vaatu needed a therapist to sort through those issues.

“My vessel is the first in his line, you have hundreds preceding you. Raava has weakened her bond with her vessels over time, and let the precious incarnations take her place. What I am to Zuko is closer to what Roku is to you.”

“But can I talk to her?” 

“That is up to her. Though she is so divorced from the world I doubt she would answer.”

Oh. 

“I’m sure she would,” Katara said suddenly, “if she’s just like you, wouldn’t she want to support Aang just as much?”

Vaatu scoffed, and Aang all of a sudden felt a little cold. “She craves order. She is order. Humans are messy and chaotic. Why do you think she has been absent?”

“She doesn’t care about me?” The cold, sick feeling was growing.

“She cares for order. She cares enough to hope you will enforce it.”

Katara frowned, eyes narrowing. “This is just your petty rivalry! I’ve seen the Avatar State, and that’s controlled by the spirit. Whoever Raava is, she loves the world and loves Aang just as much as you!”

“I do not hold much love for the world.” Vaatu’s voice stayed level, but the red glow seemed to intensify. “I will admit I love my vessel, but you do not understand the ways of spirits. We are-“

“You’re bitter,” Katara snapped.

“You are a child. A mortal child. I spent millennia in the Tree of Time, longer than you could hope to comprehend. When I entered the world again, I saw more than you ever will. Raava and I do not love or hate like you. I despise her, but I would not harm her. I am yin and she is yang; I oppose her balance but know the need to maintain it. She loves her vessel as you may love a blade of grass in a field. He is to her a single brushstroke in a painting she admires.”

Aang glanced down at the ground. Grass and dust and pebbles. Something like anger rose up and crashed down again. Well, he had never wanted to be the Avatar. Never wanted the responsibility or pressure or everyone knowing his name - so this should be nice. This should be reassuring, because at least the force that gave him the role wasn’t expecting him to change the world, she didn’t want...  
She didn’t want him. She wanted the Avatar, but she didn’t want Aang.

“Avatar Aang,” Vaatu was suddenly quieter. It felt like that voice was in his head and out at the same time. “Raava loves you as well as she can. She chose you, because she saw in your soul that you were good. I did not mean to upset you.”

“But why are you different?” His voice was cracking with emotion, but he didn’t care. “You keep saying how you love your Avatar, so why isn’t she there? Why is she never there? It’s always Roku or the others! She’s never there!”

“When I said you were but a brushstroke in her masterpiece, it was not an insult. She would not love the picture if you were not in it. My vessel is the first line I have put to paper. He will die and join me in the spirit world, and will help me guide the brush. Raava is in every avatar, including you.”

“She wasn’t there!” Aang’s voice was getting louder, and he shouldn’t be yelling at a spirit but he couldn’t stop - “She’s a great spirit and she never did anything! She could have been like you, she could have stayed with me and helped, but she never did!”

There were tears in his eyes, and Katara’s hand on his shoulder, grounding him.

“She let my people die.”

“Aang,” Katara said softly, “Aang, I-“

“She saved you.” Vaatu said. “Great spirit or not, she is not omnipotent. She, as anyone would, chose to save the thing she loved.”

“She should have saved them.”

“We spirits are selfish. I saved my vessel instead of killing the one hurting him, even though it would have prevented more suffering.”

“That’s different,” Aang protested, “that’s sparing one life to save another, not killing,” his voice cracked, “killing thousands just for one kid.”

“She saved you because she knows the world needs you more. Avatar Aang, Raava allowed the greatest act of chaos in centuries to save your life.”

“Why?” He deflated, just feeling a dull emptiness. 

“Raava hates chaos, and hates me, with all her might. But she loves you more.”

•••

It was nearly dawn by the time they finished talking, and Sokka was still stuck on ‘second avatar’. He felt bone weary, trying to stop his head spinning for just one minute to figure out how to feel. There were two avatars, and Aang’s spirit mother aka Raava aka Vaatu’s worst enemy, was essentially a deadbeat parent. At least that was how Sokka was seeing it.  
To be fair, the turtleduck/bringer of chaos had spent almost an hour telling them about his great rival Raava (who was sort of Aang, go figure), but none of this made sense. Which sort of made sense, because these guys were all about chaos.

“I joined with my vessel soon after his birth, and made him an avatar to rival Raava’s. She has long corrupted this world in the name of peace.” Vaatu spat the last word with as much vitriol as a turtleduck could muster. “She speaks of balance, yet locks her own counterbalance away for millennia. She is blinded by her own hubris.”

“But...” Sokka was honestly still trying to process the fact he was talking to a turtleduck, “how is peace bad? How are darkness and chaos good?”

“You are as blind as she is!” Vaatu snapped, but he looked so cute and fluffy Sokka kind of wanted to pick him up and ruffle his feathers. “This war has lasted for a hundred years! Don’t you see that this is balance? Poverty is balance. Inequality is balance. Everything stays the same because of balance, only chaos can bring change,”

“So this war...,” Aang murmured, “Does this make the war my fault?”

“No, foolish child.” Something almost soft entered Vaatu’s tone. “This war is Raava’s burden, and Sozin’s, and Roku’s and Ozai’s. Sozin was the initiator, but it was the others’ refusal to embrace chaos that sustained it.”

“But that isn’t about balance,” Sokka protested, “that’s just evil dictators. Uh, and Roku.”

“What is more balanced that nothing changing for a century? You are narrow minded, you see only what you have been told to see. Chaos is change, and free will, and doing what has not been done before.

“Although I will admit my aim has strayed from pure chaos. Ending the war is means to an end. The world has become complacent in my absence, and I cannot let it stay stagnant. There cannot be chaos until people are free to embrace it. And I have my own reasons for wanting the Fire Lord dead.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sokka saw Aang shift uncomfortably at the last part. The kid was a pacifist expected to kill a man, he suddenly remembered. He more than anyone understood that Ozai needed to go down, but something painful twisted in him upon seeing the look on the avatar’s face. Tui and La, the kid was twelve. He was twelve, and-

“Wait, why don’t you just do it?” He blurted out, “You’re a super great spirit or whatever - and you said yourself that Zuko can bend earth, water and fire.”

A bitter note appeared in Vaatu’s voice. Suddenly the turtleduck wasn’t all that cute. “We had intended to take on your avatar’s destiny, but I don’t wish to force my son to face that man unnecessarily.”

Okay, they would unpack the ‘son’ thing later.

“Aang is just a child!” Katara suddenly cut in, “I know you’re protective or whatever, but he’s twelve!”

“Fire Lord Ozai came close to killing my vessel three times. I attempted to end him once, and Zuko and I barely made it out alive; he spent months unable to stand under the sun for fear of fire. Killing him is not our destiny, and I was foolish to attempt it. I will offer you help, child of Raava, but even I know that I cannot challenge fate.”

“Oh.”

“It is a burden no child should have to bear. I apologise, but I will not let my child die in a battle he is not meant to win.”

“I understand,” Aang said quietly, before Katara or Sokka could argue, “I know what I have to do. I’m sorry... I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner...”

“Don’t apologise for that,” Katara said sharply, “there was nothing you could have done.”

“You have been handed a heavy burden, young avatar. But the one compliment I can pay Raava is that she chooses her vessels well.”

———

Several hours later, Zuko, who Vaatu referred to interchangeably as ‘vessel’ or ‘my son’ (what?), was still asleep, face down on a sleeping mat June had pulled out. It did not look comfortable, but apparently it was just like when Aang came down from the Avatar State. Except Vaatu was really dramatic and used up way more energy than necessary.

According to Yue, Vaatu’s spirit was in Zuko, but could be channeled to other entities he was touching. That explained pretty much everything except why they used a turtleduck (whose name was Mochi, and who was apparently totally chill with the occasional possession). Zuko had stirred once, when the turtleduck was taken off his head, but was then dead to the world for several more hours. Sokka was somewhat glad, because if this guy was anything like the others, he was going to need time to mentally prepare.

Toph, who was also the Badgermole Spirit he had sworn fealty to, was a twelve year old blind girl. She was half his height, a quarter his weight, and currently his biggest fear. Her punches, which were apparently displays of affection, were just as hard as the rocks she loved flinging at them - Sokka in particular. He was pretty sure even his dark skin would bruise under her barrage. Yeah, Toph was exactly what he’d expect on Team Chaos.

June was pretty much Toph but tall, and scary in her own ways. Her own ways were mostly knives, and a vicious looking whip hooked on her belt. She was the most heavily armed, but he only needed one conversation with her to realise her blades were nowhere near as sharp as her tongue. He had learned ten new swear words, and even more insecurities he didn’t previously know he had.

And Yue was somehow their polar opposite. She was calm and soothing, and something about her reminded him of home. She smiled gently, and laughed like wind chimes, and moved like water. As they sat around the fire, she had bent water from the air around her into clay cups, and he was pretty sure he and Katara both stared with the same awed expression - but Sokka possibly wasn’t staring for the same reasons. But her bending was like her whole presence - nothing he had ever seen before.

Sokka was maybe a tiny bit in love, barely catching snippets of what she was saying. They had shifted into casual conversation at some point, swapping stories of their travels. Team Chaos Avatar (and now he was going to have to call his team something like Team Not-As-Cool Avatar) had been travelling for almost three years, Yue having joined two years ago and June soon after. She, Toph and Zuko were all apparently ex-noble runaways, but they refused to elaborate further. June was a bounty hunter who was less interested in vigilante justice and more in wanting to hang out with the literal embodiment of chaos, which was honestly a fair enough reason.

But he had completely lost track of what they were saying now, because Yue was talking in that soft, thrilling voice while she tugged the braids out of her hair. It was like moonlight spilling over her shoulders, almost glowing against her black clothing.

“ -of course, we were almost eaten by the Unagi-“

And that suddenly snapped Sokka’s focus off her slender fingers carding through her hair.

“And thank Tui Zuko figured out that waterbending move in time. Anyway, my girlfriend still had to drag us all off the beach with the other warriors, since we were all-“

Wait, did she say girlfriend? Well, that was probably the fastest Sokka had ever gone from crushing to crushed.

“Did you say your girlfriend was a Kiyoshi Warrior?” He asked when she finished, hoping his voice didn’t sound as strangled as it did to him. Judging by Katara’s half pitying smirk, it did.

“Yes, she is.” Yue murmured with an almost dreamy looking smile, “Their leader actually. Her name is Suki.”

Sokka did not scream. He did not bury his head in the dirt. He did not run off into the woods to contemplate every decision he ever made. Of course Yue was ‘the girl’ Suki had softly told him about when he tried to kiss her. Of course Suki was the brave warrior Yue talked about, almost reverently. Of course the two girls he had been crushing on were not only taken, but by each other.

He should really stop calling spirits jerks. This was clearly some sort of cosmic karma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a while to write, so my backlog is running low. I’ll probably be doing weekly updates for this fic and more sporadic ones for the backstory. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	6. Northwest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko’s eventful nap
> 
> I messed up the directions, I’m the idiot not Zuko lol (thanks for noticing avaya29!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter’s so short/late, but my chronic illness is flaring up and I’m currently a mess. I’ll do my best to get back on schedule ASAP!

When Zuko opened his eyes, he saw fire. It was everywhere, blazing and crackling red and gold, with flickers of blue, green, white - that wasn’t normal - but it was still fire. It was still so close he felt he would inhale flame if he opened his mouth.

He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think anything but ‘please, I’m sorry, I am your loyal son, I will do better, I promise, please father don’t-‘

He wasn’t sure if he made a noise or if the screaming was all in his head. He was lying on his back, on something soft, but he could feel the smooth marble under him as he knelt before the dragon throne. He could hear his father’s voice, the empty kindness as he said ‘this is for your own good, you could never be strong enough to banish this spirit on your own’. He could feel his father’s hand, and it was warm, it was always warm when he relived this, just for a second before it was hot - too hot, stinging and burning. 

From the second his father lit that flame, Zuko had been in pain. It was part of the burn now. Some days the ache was dull and easy enough to ignore, but it never stopped. Sometimes it felt like his face was on fire all over again. Like now.

Nothing but fire, everywhere, encasing him with heat and light and pain-  
No, not pain. It didn’t hurt. He was on fire, in fire, there was fire in him, and it didn’t hurt.

‘Apologies, little flame. I did not mean to startle you.’

There was a face in the fire. Barely visible, flickering red and yellow and gold, but there. It looked calm, almost kind, but Zuko wasn’t stupid. His father had smiled just before he pressed his hand down and-

He was flooded with boiling, burning fury, because anger was a lot safer than cowering. He hadn’t been angry that day, when he’d stood there and let his father do what he wanted. He hadn’t been angry when his mother had left. He had been angry after, and when he was angry, people knew better than to hurt him. Sometimes the anger made them fight him harder, or hurt him more, but when he was angry he could hurt them back.

“Get away from me!” His voice sounded weak and scared, and that sent another spike of rage through him. “I don’t know who you are, just fuck off and leave me alone! I’ll fight you, don’t you dare come close to me you fucking asshole!”

‘You are safe,’ the flames told him gently, and the voice crackled like a hearth. It made him want to curl up and let the anger drain away. That thought made him angrier.

His head was spinning. This had to be a dream, but Vaatu was always there when he dreamed. In his dreams, the fire always hurt. He didn’t understand - he had to understand, questions burning on his tongue. Where am I? What’s happening? Who are you? Why am I here? Why isn’t it burning me?

“Why doesn’t it hurt?” His voice came out shaky and raspy.

‘Because this is true fire, little flame. I’m so sorry you haven’t felt it before.’

“It doesn’t hurt.” Zuko repeated. The rush of rage in his veins was slowing, calming. He couldn’t bring himself to drag the feeling back.

‘Fire is not meant to. Fire is life, and it is alive. You should have learned that long ago, but even the Sages seem to have forgotten. You are ready now.’

“What do you mean?” Familiar, gnawing dread was rising up in him, but it couldn’t seem to hold on. It was slipping away every second the fire burned around him.

‘You are not a firebending master,’ the fire said, but those words didn’t fill him with shame like they had before. (“Your sister is a master, Zuko, and she is only eleven. Why Agni does not strike you down for disgracing his line, I will never know.”)

‘You must travel northwest. I will guide you closer when the time comes. Bring Raava’s avatar with you, he is nearer than you think. The meaning of fire is something to be shared.’

The flames seemed to be dimming, but rather than relieved, Zuko felt cold.

“Who are you?”

A hand seemed to appear as the fire shifted, reaching down to touch the unscarred side of his face. There was no fear, no sudden anxiety or pounding of his heart. When it touched him, he felt warm and weightless, like he could float up into the sun.

‘To many firebenders, I am their father. I created them and gave them their gift. I can be whoever you want me to be, but I doubt you want me as a father.’

The fire was fading faster now, not quite dying out but pulling back.

‘I’m sorry I can’t make the pain stop forever, little flame.’

———

Zuko woke with a start to a silent forest. The ache of his scar was back full force. They had moved - he faintly remembered the fight, and Zhao, and Vaatu, and being woken up by the hum of danger through the earth below him. But now everything was quiet and still, and Toph was curled up under his arm. He turned to see June sprawled out on top of her sleeping bag, and Yue managing to look graceful even when she drooled in her sleep.  
His dream - if it even had been a dream - didn’t fade like most did. He could remember that face, that voice. Agni, it was somehow familiar.

Agni.  
Fuck. That had been Agni. And Agni had given him a few cryptic lines about fire and going... northwest? And bringing the other avatar? How was he meant to find the avatar?  
When he had left the Fire Nation, he had heard the official story a few months later: the prince disrespected his father and was banished, sent to capture the avatar to restore his honour. It was a stupid story, but it definitely looked better than the Fire Lord mutilating his innocent son and facing the wrath of an angry great spirit.  
Zuko capturing the avatar had become a joke, that finally after three years he could laugh at. And now he was meant to actually do it?  
There had been a kid with airbending master tattoos, he remembered, in the town. That must have been him, no other airbender could have survived Sozin’s genocide, and definitely not for that long. But where would he be now? He was probably long gone, miles away by now. But which direction?  
‘Bring Raava’s avatar with you, he is nearer than you think’? What was that meant to mean? Zuko had had enough cryptic spirits to last a lifetime, thank you very much. But what was he meant to do, say no to Agni?  
Fuck. How on Earth was he meant to find this guy? He was-

‘Nearer than you think’ turned out to mean about six feet away.  
Well that had been a waste of a perfectly good existential crisis.

Because the kid with airbender tattoos was sleeping opposite him when he turned to get up and have this particular panic attack alone in the woods.

“Sparky?” Toph’s voice was faint, slurred from sleep. “What’s wrong?”

Then another thought hit him. Oh shit. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

“Toph,” he said, strangled, “I think I just called Agni a fucking asshole to his face.”

•••

That woke Toph up faster than anything in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll probably be updating every Friday from now on - hopefully this fic will end up with an actual schedule


	7. Fire and Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raava’s avatar is a literal child and Zuko is not coping well. Neither is Sokka, but for different reasons.
> 
> (Please read beginning notes!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the late chapter. My health issues have somehow got worse and I’m a total mess right now. I’m doing my best to update once a week, but I might not make it all the time.
> 
> Any personal updates will probably be on my [tumblr](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/)

Sokka was woken up abruptly, just past noon judging by the sun glaring down from halfway across the sky.  
Way too early.  
He closed his eyes and burrowed into the sleeping bag, decidedly not thinking about avatars or spirits or turtleducks.

“Nuh uh, Snoozles!” A high, definitely not a twelve year old earthbender, voice called out, and something hard and suspiciously rock like slammed into his shoulder.

“Snoozles?” He asked blearily, opening his eyes but making no effort to get up. She would not win this round.

“It’s a nickname, idiot.” Toph’s face swam into view above him, grinning menacingly. “Get used to it.”

Yue appeared next to her, thankfully not looking like she was about to pelt him with stones for fun. “It could be worse, she has about ten for Zuko.”

“Speaking of Fire Flake, he’s in the woods having a minor crisis, but when he gets back he needs to talk to the avatar.”

June snorted. “Yeah, a minor crisis. Dude cursed out a major spirit that isn’t his dad, so he’s trying to get into the Spirit World to apologise.”

“Oh, I’m still dreaming. Dream-Toph, leave me alone until Real-Toph gets here.”

Yue chuckled quietly. “Don’t worry, Sokka, you’ll get used to it.”

“I really don’t think I ever will,” he admitted.

“The suffer in silence,” June called from somewhere across camp.

Sokka groaned, pulling himself up and out of the gloriously warm sleeping bag. This was going to be a long day. It was already a long day, and he was very much ready for it to be over. Yue, at least, seemed to take pity on him, handing him a bowl of something that looked edible (Katara’s early attempts at cooking had left him with low standards).  
He staunchly avoided staring at her, because that would be weird and embracing for both of them. Katara, however, had no such reservations.

“Could you show me how to do that?” She asked eagerly as Yue pulled water from the air with a flick of her wrist to quell the fire. Then after a beat: “And some of the other stuff you know? I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can from scrolls, but there weren’t any masters - or other waterbenders - in my tribe.”

She smiled gently, and Sokka remembered being six and running around the village after one of the older boys, begging to be shown how to carve spears and throw a boomerang.

“I would love to,” Yue said, “it will be nice to have a student who doesn’t get his impulse control from a chaos spirit.”

———

Zuko reappeared about an hour later. He looked far more exhausted than someone who had slept for almost twelve hours had any right to be. Sokka suddenly realised that he hadn’t got a good look at Zuko’s face before. He definitely hadn’t seen the huge scar - but then he noticed that Zuko’s eyes were bright gold, and that his hair looked really soft, and-

“Uh, hello. Zuko here.”

He smiled for a split second, and Sokka was torn between laughing or grinning back, because there was an odd feeling coursing through him and an overwhelming urge to give into it. 

Toph, however, laughed. He could practically hear her roll her eyes. “Well, let’s pretend that her happened. Katara’s the waterbender, Sokka’s the other one and the bald kid is the Avatar.”

“The other one?” Sokka protested.

“The bald kid?” Aang questioned. Then - “wait, how did you know I was bald? And I’m bald by choice!”

“Hang on,” Zuko cut in, expression going hard, eyes fixed on Aang, “how old are you?”

“Uh, twelve. Why?”

“You’re twelve.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Uh... no?”

“No. Go back to preschool, you’re like, a toddler.” Something like anger crossed his face, intensifying by the second.

“Wait what?”

“You’re not supposed to even know you’re the Avatar until you’re sixteen! You’re just a kid!”

“You’re just a teenager!” Aang looked utterly confused and Sokka was torn between sorting this out and laughing. Toph and June seemed to be in the same boat. 

“Can we please calm down-“ Yue started, “and talk?”

Zuko still looked annoyed, but stopped angrily accusing Aang of being twelve. Which he was, but it wasn’t exactly his fault.

“What’s wrong with Aang being twelve?” Katara asked, half irritated and half probably secretly agreeing with Zuko. Her mothering instincts went into overdrive with the kid.

“He’s barely taller than Toph and everyone wants him to kill the Fire Lord!”

“I am tall for a twelve year old!” Toph yelled, managing to look more pissed than anyone else.

“Wait,” Katara said, “you don’t think Aang should kill the Fire Lord?”

Oh great, another member of team ‘let’s not do murder’.

“No, he’s fucking twelve. I’ll do it.”

Oh.

“No you fucking won’t!” Yue suddenly cut in.

There was a beat of silence, and Yue looked just as surprised as everyone else. Sokka didn’t need to know her all that well to know that this wasn’t normal.

Toph’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit. Snowflake said fuck.”

Yue flushed red but shot a surprisingly effective glare at Zuko. What proceeded was an intense nonverbal conversation that no one but Yue and Zuko seemed to understand, but Sokka was pretty sure this was some sort of important debate.

“Wait, I have to do it,” Aang said, looking uncomfortable but resolute, “it’s my destiny.”

“You’re twelve,” Zuko said emphatically, and Sokka was inclined to agree.

“You’ve tried it already,” Yue said sharply to Zuko, still frustrated but softening, “you barely made it out alive and you might not be that lucky again.”

“Yue, I don’t-“

“We’ll talk about this later.” She said firmly, then shot a glance at Aang, Katara and Sokka before turning back to Zuko. “What did the spirits say?”

The spirits, as it turned out, said a lot.

•••

‘Agni told me to take this overpowered child on a field trip’ was not the way to put it, but Zuko was struggling to find more appropriate phrasing.

It did not help that Vaatu was in his head offering the worst suggestions he’d ever heard, and that the avatar and his companions were very distracting. The avatar was twelve. Fucking twelve. And now that Zuko wasn’t actively freaking out about that, the kid kept giving him huge smiles that honestly looked painful to maintain.

The Water Tribe kids were also very much occupying his head, though for admittedly different reasons. The girl, Katara, was staring at him every time he looked over, and he couldn’t tell if it was aggressive or curious, or both. He’d had his fair share of both kinds of looks (thanks, massive facial injury) but she was impossible to read. Not that he was very good at reading people, but still.  
And Sokka was something else entirely, and whenever Zuko looked at him, his brain started screaming ‘this is the Jet Incident all over again, don’t think about the cute boy’. He was not going to think about Sokka’s blue eyes or dark skin or the way his hair looked really nice where some of it was escaping from his wolftail or-  
No, he had to think about the fucking twelve year old that wanted to fight his dad.

“Well, I talked to Agni, and...” 

“Called him a fucking asshole,” Toph supplied helpfully.

Zuko glared at her on principle, because her not being able to see it did not make her exempt.

“And he told me to talk to Raava’s avatar.” Zuko finished, because they really did not need the rest of that story.

“He said some cryptic bullsh-“ no, Zuko, he’s twelve- “some cryptic stuff about fire, but the gist is to go northwest and bring the avatar along.”

“Fire?” Raava’s avatar asked, looking enthusiastic to what Zuko considered an excessive degree, “As in firebending? That’s great!”

“Who’s Agni?” Sokka asked, and Zuko did not look at him or pay attention to the fact he had a really nice voice, because he had more important things to focus on.

“He’s the Sun spirit,” Aang explained, “the Fire Nation worship him mainly, but he’s responsible for light, heat and fire everywhere.”

“And we’re just going along with whatever the Fire Nation spirit says?” Sokka asked incredulously, “For all we know, he’s crazy and evil like the rest of them! Uh, no offence Zuko.”

“None taken, they banished me for a reason. And Agni isn’t affiliated with a nation. He said something about the true meaning of fire, and it sounded like he didn’t even agree with the Sages’ methods.”

He’d almost forgotten about Katara until she spoke, suddenly sounding soft and hesitant. “You were banished from the Fire Nation?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed,” Toph said with a smirk, “none of us are very popular with the Fire Nation.”

“I pissed off the Fire Lord,” Zuko said, praying they wouldn’t ask for much more information. This was not a conversation he wanted to have ever again.

“You managed to piss off the Fire Lord personally?” Sokka sounded almost impressed.

“Long story.” Zuko said curtly, deciding he’d rather talk about literally anything else as his scar started aching in earnest. “Anyway, I assume the avatar hasn’t been able to find a firebending teacher yet. If we all go where Agni told us to together, he has a good chance of learning some useful skills.”

“You could teach me!” The avatar exclaimed, then faltered, “I mean, if you want.”

“I’m not a master,” Zuko admitted, feeling that familiar curl of shame, “but I can show you everything I know. There are some things you’ll need to learn if you want to face Ozai.”

That had probably been the wrong thing to mention, judging by the way the avatar’s grin fell a little at the mention of the Fire Lord. Zuko could relate to that feeling.

———

Lunch was not as awkward as he had expected it to be, but his hopes hadn’t been that high, so it was by no means not awkward. However, only he and the Water Tribe kids seemed to have noticed. Aang, Toph and June seemed totally unaffected by the atmosphere, and even Yue wasn’t too nervous, all chatting and laughing like they’d known each other for years. The avatar had quickly persuaded his water and earthbending masters to teach him while they travelled, much to their delight.

“It will be lovely to have more students,” Yue was saying, “though I should warn you Toph and I have... different.... teaching styles.”

Toph grinned, punching a fist into her other palm. “You better be a quick study, Twinkletoes.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great, Sifu Toph!” The kid replied, but even Zuko’s less than perfect earth sense could pick up the thrum of anxiety. 

“I’ve taught Aang a bit of waterbending,” Katara said, “and he really responds best to positive reinforcement-“

“He’ll respond even better to rocks, if he knows what’s good for him,” Toph grinned, baring her teeth in a way that made him wonder how long Aang would last under her tutelage. She was great teacher, sure, but Aang didn’t appear to have the metal skin required to get out of her lessons bruise-and-scrape-free. 

“Bet you five copper he makes it ten minutes,” June murmured, nudging him with her shoulder.

“You can’t just place bets like that - it’s important avatar training!” Zuko said, then dropped his voice, “One silver on an hour.”

———

A few hours later, Zuko found himself being tailed by a very excitable shadow. Aang was definitely not what he’d expected from Raava’s avatar, and he wasn’t sure if this was better or worse. It started with Zuko heating the water to wash up after lunch, which was apparently fascinating to the kid, and required a ten minute explanation on how he did it. Then he had to relight the campfire a while later, which Aang seemed to think was an amazing display of firebending prowess. 

Toph and June were, as always, unhelpful. “That kid’s gonna have an aneurysm if he sees you breathe fire,” June said, a little too loudly.

“You can breathe fire?!”

———

It took Zuko another couple of hours to get away from camp to ‘mediate’, which really meant ‘ask miscellaneous spirits for advice on dealing with kids’.  
And ideally one specific spirit, but he wasn’t going to get his hopes up.  
Meditation was by no means his strong suit, especially with Vaatu trying to offer his own (terrible) advice in Zuko’s head.

“Please shut up,” he muttered, “I’m not taking advice from the spirit that encouraged me to start a cult.”

‘That was merely creative problem solving!’ Vaatu protested, ‘you could have disbanded it afterwards!’

Zuko decided not to start this argument again, picking a spot next to the river and sitting cross-legged on the bank. The sound of water rushing past could almost drown out the hum of voices from the distant campsite, but he liked being able to hear them if he tried.  
He lit a fire in his palm, feeling the warmth against his skin. His own fire was safe, and he’d discovered that he could light pretty much anything on fire and leave it undamaged with enough focus. A spirit had told him something about intention overpowering all in bending, and the following experimentation had led to Zuko’s new method of meditation.  
The flame flickered as he let it grow and spread, feeling it move and breathe like a living thing as he closed his eyes. 

The moment he slipped into the Spirit World was always jarring, even after years of practice. It was like being thrown off a cliff into icy water, then realising it wasn’t actually cold. In short, it was weird.  
He opened his eyes to a field this time, thick with wildflowers spanning what looked like miles in every direction. Everything was in full colour, and it reminded him briefly of Agni’s fire; when he tilted his head up to look at the sky, the sun glowed gold.

“For the record, this is an awful idea,” Vaatu said, drifting around beside him.

His sort-of physical form in the spirit world was huge, a dark black and red kite that seemed to be made more of shadow than anything else. Inky black tendrils grazed the grass below, and one gently curled over Zuko’s shoulder.

“Absolutely idiotic,” the spirit continued, “but I’ll help as much as I can.”

“You don’t have to,” Zuko offered, “I can look for her on my own.”

“Don’t be foolish, vessel. I would not risk you alone with her.”

“She’s dangerous?”

“She is, as Toph taught me to say, a ‘straight up bitch’.”

Zuko choked back a laugh and touched the dark tendril laid comfortingly on his arm. “You’re banned from repeating anything Toph has ever said to you.”

“I make no promises. Now, let’s find Raava.”

•••

It had been two hours since Zuko left to ‘meditate’, and honestly, Sokka couldn’t blame him. Aang was buzzing with excitement about finding a good firebender, and Sokka was now hyperaware that the avatar was indeed a child. Not in a bad way, but more in a ‘spirits this kid has so much energy’ way. Said child was now looking like a sad polar bear puppy, trying to pick up some of the flames from the fire pit, much to Katara’s abject horror.

“Aang, please, please stop sticking your hands in there-“

“But it’s not burning me!”

“Your sleeve is on fire!”

“It’s safely on fire!”

Yeah, Zuko had the right idea. “I’m heading out hunting,” Sokka announced, because Katara was wielding her water threateningly and he’d already been drenched enough times.

“Good luck,” Yue called, “And if you see Zuko, tell him to come back for dinner.”

“Will do!” Sokka rushed out, snatching up his club as Katara made to throw a wave at Aang.

“Oh, Sokka, don’t panic if-“

“Thanks, gotta go, bye!”

He really should have listened to the last part of that sentence.

———

Sokka walked for about five minutes before stopping, dropping to the ground and staring blankly up at the sky as everything that had happened caught up to him at once. Apparently the high energy of the camp had been suppressing things, because holy shit, now he was fully processing the last twenty four hours.

Spirits. Not actually spirits. Fire Nation. Two avatars. Chaos avatar. Turtleduck of chaos and darkness. Zuko. Zuko’s really nice looking gold eyes. Zuko who was also the human embodiment of chaos. Zuko, whose dad was a spirit. Raava was a terrible mother. Zuko had smiled for a split second when he showed up at the campsite and it made Sokka feel weird.

Fuck.

Sokka rolled onto his stomach and briefly screamed into the ground.  
Much better.  
After a period of time between ten seconds and twenty minutes, he pulled himself up and curled his fingers around his boomerang, which rarely failed to ground him. It was cold and smooth underneath his skin, and he was pretty confident it wasn’t going to start glowing and talking.

The local wildlife had probably been thoroughly scared off by his screeching, so with a sigh, he turned to the sound of the nearby river. Fish were better than nothing, and he didn’t fully trust himself to be able to track and hunt an animal at this point. 

It was almost serene as he wandered over to the water, late afternoon sunlight filtering through the treetops high above. The river itself was idyllic, flowing like liquid glass as it cut through the land. When he looked down, it was almost transparent, shoals of fish flashing iridescent scales as they hurried by. Beautiful. But not beautiful enough to not look delicious.

He pulled out an old bone knife from his belt, taking a moment to admire it. A gift from his father when he turned twelve. Dad had stayed up all night carving it and wrapping the handle, then taken him hunting with it on his birthday - back when everything was as simple as it could get in the midst of war.

Sokka poised to strike, tracking each flip and fin below him for what must have been two minutes. Then struck faster than he could think, sending the shoal scattering - but leaving one on his blade. The fish here were clearly unused to humans; fish back at the South Pole fled the second a shadow crossed the water.  
He hadn’t realised just how caught up he was in his thoughts until he had the fish laid in a large leaf from a nearby plant and he looked upstream for his next target. It took him a second to recognise the figure further up the riverbank as Zuko, who was thankfully completely unaware that Sokka was there. 

Huh, he actually was meditating. That red glow was back, strong even through his closed eyelids.  
He looked calm, which Sokka was decidedly not, because a second later he noticed what should have been his first observation.

Because fire. Zuko. Zuko was on fire. Mostly his hands and arms, but it was creeping up his torso.  
Sokka made a strangled, horrified noise and ran, lunged.  
If he’d thought for a second longer, he might not have grabbed Zuko’s very much on fire shirt as he shoved him into the water. In the second of thinking time he did have, sitting on top of the firebender in the water, he realised that Zuko and his clothes were intact, and that it hadn’t actually been hot or even really burning. 

“Fuck.”

Zuko’s eyes snapped open, bright red and blank, sending Sokka scrambling backwards with a yell. But then they faded back to a less terrifying gold (even though gold meant Fire Nation, but that thought barely crossed his mind).

“Sokka?” He managed to look annoyed, confused and concerned all at once, and then Sokka realised he was still sitting on Zuko’s legs.

“You-“ his voice cracked, “you were on fire-“

A beat of silence.

“O-oh. Uh, thank you? But... that’s normal? Kind of? That’s how I meditate.”

“On fire?” His valiant attempts to remain calm failed spectacularly, and it came out as more of a squeak than a question.

“Yeah, I... Sorry for worrying you. Firebenders can control their flame to an extent, so it won’t burn anything I don’t tell it to.”

Zuko pushed himself up onto his elbows, still half submerged in the water - which Sokka was quickly realising was icy cold. And that he was still sitting on Zuko’s legs. He felt his face heat up as he shifted off the other boy, glad his darker skin didn’t show blushes easily.

“But, yeah, thanks for trying to help,” Zuko offered as he got up, steadily dripping water everywhere. 

He gave that small smile again as he held out a hand, which Sokka took far too quickly. It was calloused - Zuko was a swordsman, he remembered - and shockingly warm.

“You’re hot!” Sokka blurted out, then felt all of the heat in his body rush to his face, “I mean, your hand. Firebender? Is it, uh, a firebender thing?”

“Oh, yeah. Toph says that’s why she makes me carry her around. My body heat.”

There was another beat of silence, and Sokka took a second too long to drop Zuko’s hand once he was on his feet again.

“By the way, Yue asked me to get you for dinner. I was hunting - well, fishing. Then I saw you, and... yeah. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Zuko was flushing pink, staring down at the water rushing around his feet. “I can help you dry off if you like.”

“How?”

Five minutes later, Sokka decided he loved firebending. He was warm and dry and his clothes smelled vaguely of woodsmoke, but that weird, annoying feeling in his stomach came back as Zuko pressed a palm to his chest to evaporate the water.

“Thanks,” he said, “and sorry about throwing you into a river. Oh, and also for calling you a jerk back in town.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Zuko replied with a shrug and that smile again, “I’ve been told I am. A jerk, that is.”

“As a man of science, I’ll need more evidence.”

Then Zuko, who apparently was a jerk, laughed and flipped him back into the river.

•••

It had taken Katara almost half an hour to wrangle Aang away from the fire pit, and ten more minutes to talk him out of trying firebending on his own. The enthusiasm was great, but not at all healthy for her blood pressure. 

“Look, it’s great you want to try firebending, but please wait until Zuko comes back.”

Zuko had said he wasn’t a master, but at least he could probably put out any forest fire Aang started.

“Come on, Katara, I can do it!”

“I don’t doubt that you can do it, I doubt that you can do it safely.”

Aang pouted and she suppressed a giggle.

“If you want to practice bending, let’s just work on water,” she suggested.

Yue glanced up from her spot next to the fire with a soft smile. “If you like, I can show you two a few things.”

“Yes! That would be great!”

The other waterbender got to her feet, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “Why don’t you start by showing me what you already know?”

“Right,” Katara felt a thrum of nervousness and excitement shoot through her, “well...”

———

By the time Sokka returned, Zuko in tow, Katara was starting to understand Aang’s excitement in firebending. Yue moved with almost unnatural grace, guiding them through forms and movements with gentle touches and soft words.

“Perfect,” she said with a glowing smile, “you’re a natural, Katara. You too, Aang.”

She’d lost track of time, but five or so new forms later, Sokka burst through the tree-line soaking wet but triumphant.

“We got fish!”

Katara raised an eyebrow. “You do know you don’t have to catch them by getting in the water, right?”


	8. Cult Leaders and Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road trip begins, Sokka is the dumbest genius ever, Toph lovingly bullies Zuko, and Vaatu gets called ‘dad’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry for the wait! Basically my health is rapidly collapsing and I had exams, so 🎶life is a fucking nightmare🎶
> 
> Anyway, slightly longer chapter! Thanks for reading ♥️
> 
> [Find me on tumblr](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/) for snippets, updates and cool stuff I reblog. Also currently taking short requests over there!

Everyone but Sokka agreed to set out at dawn, because he was apparently the only sane one in either group. But now they were pretty much one group, so at least he no longer had to come up with two separate Team Avatar names. Zuko, the absolute heathen, got up at sunrise every day to mediate, which was even a step too far for Aang. 

There had been a brief debate about how they would travel, with Yue and Zuko worrying that Appa wouldn’t be able to carry seven people (and a lemur and a turtleduck), and an argument that almost turned into a fistfight over Nyla the shirshu, who was staunchly against air travel. Toph was also not a big fan of not being near the earth, because “I need to see, dunderhead” and agreed to travel with Nyla and June. Wrangling two teams instead of one would be harder, but at least keeping Toph on the ground was less stressful than hours of her griping about being “actually blind for once” (according to Zuko, who had once taken her to the North Pole and forced her to wear shoes so she wouldn’t get frostbite).

Zuko and Yue would come on Appa with them, because Zuko would be getting directions from Vaatu, and Yue had taken a shine to Appa almost immediately. She had braided some flowers into his hair at some point, and seemed utterly unbothered by the affectionate lick she’d received in response. As it turned out, bison spit could be waterbended off people, which was the grossest but most useful bending he’d seen.

The shirshu took a sniff of Appa’s fur and zeroed in on the bison with almost frightening ease and precision, but almost instantly killed the dangerous vibe when he leaned into June’s head scratches like a baby otter seal.

“Good boy, Nyla,” she crooned, ruffling the shirshu’s fur, “such a good boy.”

Toph coughed into her fist, but it sounded awfully like ‘softie’.

“At least I’m tall enough to reach Nyla’s head on my own, short stack.”

Appa took off with the two still bickering in the background.

•••

An hour into his first trip via sky bison, Zuko was still unsure whether he loved or hated it. The feeling in his gut was either nausea or excitement, or maybe both. Yue, naturally, was having the time of her life and subtly glancing amusedly at him every few minutes. There really should be some sort of safety feature on this thing, he thought, because he was losing feeling in his hands from grabbing the side of the saddle so tightly.

“You’re not going to fly off if you let go,” Sokka commented, standing up in the saddle and walking over like the total lunatic he was.

“Maybe not, but you look like you’re about to, so please sit down.” His voice was definitely not slightly shaky. That was just the altitude.

Sokka laughed and sat down next to him. “Wow, Zuko, I didn’t know you cared.”

“Don’t make me push you off the bison myself.”

When Sokka laughed again, Zuko tried not to look too hard, because fuck, he recognised this feeling. The other boy fell into a story, something about managing to get two fishhooks stuck in his thumb. Zuko was starting to wonder how Sokka was simultaneously the smartest and dumbest person he’d ever met. The guy had planned and mapped their entire route from Zuko’s vague, second hand instructions, managed and sorted their supplies and made a schedule complete with bathroom breaks and naps. And he’d thought the best way to get a fishhook out was another fishhook.

‘Vessel, your heart is beating abnormally,’ Vaatu said suddenly, and Zuko was startled out of his musing, ‘are you feeling alright?’

Zuko briefly considered jumping off the bison and spending the rest of his life hiding in a forest.

‘It’s fine,’ he thought back, ‘it’s a human thing.’

‘Oh, okay,’ Vaatu sounded unconvinced.

Then: ‘oh, OH, is this like-‘

‘Shut up, don’t say it.’

‘Ah, I understand, vessel. Should I-‘

‘Please don’t.’

He had to focus on following Agni’s instructions and helping Raava’s avatar, who was a literal child. He’d have to teach him as much as he could, including lightning, which even he struggled with sometimes. He didn’t have time to think about Sokka or the way he was talking so animatedly, or the fact that Zuko was already crushing hard after only a day.

This was going to be the Jet Incident all over again, he just knew it. Although in hindsight, Jet had weird eyebrows and the wheat thing was odd, so the Water Tribe boy was actually doing better in that regard. Zuko was screwed. He was just thankful that Toph wasn’t here, because emotionally tormenting him was a hobby of hers.

‘At least this one doesn’t have mouth wheat,’ Vaatu mused.

Zuko mentally sent him a slew of curses June had so graciously taught him.

‘Ah, is this what Toph calls ‘gay panic’?’

Zuko was going to strangle his earthbending teacher.

“- so this spirit, Hei Bai, was terrorising the village, and naturally, I took him down,” Sokka was saying, and Zuko suppressed a smile.

“You fought off Hei Bai on your own?”

“Yep,” Sokka practically preened, “I mean, Aang helped a little, but I did all the hard work.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. Kinda weird that Hei Bai tells it differently though.”

It was incredibly amusing to watch the confidence drain from Sokka’s face.

———

By the time they landed, they had been flying for almost eight hours with only a break for lunch at midday. But they had covered more ground than Zuko had thought possible, and he was maybe starting to love Appa with all his heart. If he stopped to stroke the bison’s head when they landed and grudgingly accepted a lick of thanks, no one had to know.

Sitting around the campfire with three new faces was still a little strange, but he had to admit he liked them. And it didn’t hurt that Sokka had sat next to him, barely stopping his recount of everything that had happened since they left the South Pole - which was a lot more trouble than he’d thought one small group could get into.

“So Katara decided to just steal this super valuable scroll-“

“It’s a vital part of our culture,” she snapped, but seemingly more on principle rather than out of true anger, “and they stole it first.”

“And that night, she snuck out to practice, like an idiot-“

“Hey!”

“- and long story short, Zhao showed up with the pirates. Oh, Zhao is this admiral guy who’s been hunting us.”

“I know him,” Zuko said without thinking, the remembered he probably shouldn’t.  
Because that opened up the whole ‘escaped the Fire Lord and got hunted down by him, because oh yeah, I’m technically the Prince of the Fire Nation’.

“You’ve met him before?” Sokka asked, oblivious to the rising panic in Zuko’s head.

“Yeah,” Toph cut in, and Zuko desperately wanted to hug her, “we bumped into him a few times in the past few years. He’s a pri-“

Yue cleared her throat pointedly.

“He’s a pretty bad guy. Happy now, Snowflake?”

“Yeah, Zhao sucks,” Sokka sighed, “we did get to see pirates double cross him and steal his boat, though. That was pretty fun. Anyway, the moral of the story is ‘don’t steal things’.”

The last comment was pointedly directed at Katara, who rolled her eyes and threw a stick at him.

“They stole it first!” She reiterated, then continued, “Anyway, after that we got to Nuzisu village where we met you.”

June let out a low chuckle. “And then your lives devolved into complete anarchy.”

“Yep, pretty much.”

“What did you guys do before all this?” Aang asked, with that eagerness and enthusiasm that Zuko was still trying to comprehend.

Toph bared her teeth in a sharp grin. “Well I was the Earth Rumble champion in every town we ever went to, and I beat up criminals as a hobby because Yue won’t let me hit anyone else.”

The waterbender sighed, but smiled fondly. “I’m the closest thing they have to impulse control and adult supervision. But I lived in the Northern Water Tribe before Toph and Zuko found me. Tui encouraged me to go with them.”

“Wait, did you say Tui?” Aang stared at her wide-eyed, “As in the moon spirit?”

“Oh, yes,” she shrugged, and Zuko was suddenly reminded that most people didnt drop by the major spirits for casual chats, “I was almost dead when I was born, and she saved my life. She gave me part of her life and her spirit. That’s why my hair turned white.”

There was a subtle melancholy in her tone, but Zuko knew it was for her Tribe, not her story. Yue didn’t talk about it much, but he knew how much it hurt for her to think of the family, people, and life she had left behind, even though it had stifled and suffocated her.

“I was given the option to leave and she encouraged me to take it. I don’t think I ever could have been happy there.”

“Why not?” Katara asked softly, a little confusedly, “I’ve always thought the Northern Tribe would be great.”

“It is, I suppose,” Yue said quietly, “but not for me. Not for any women, really. I would have been betrothed at sixteen and my husband would inherit everything through me. I wasn’t even allowed to learn proper bending under a master.”

Something like fury flashed across Katara’s face. “How dare they? Why wouldn’t they let you bend?”

“They let me learn to heal,” Yue said, half placatingly, but her voice was tinged with quiet frustration, “but any other waterbending was said to be for men. Tui taught me almost everything I know.”

“If...” Katara looked conflicted - “if I went North, would they teach me?”

Yue paused, then shook her head. 

“That’s... that’s so stupid. What if the Avatar was a girl? Would they just refuse to let her learn waterbending?”

“I don’t know,” Yue said a little helplessly, “the masters in the North are very old fashioned. They’d have to persuade Master Pakku, and he’s... he’s a lot of things, but progressive is not one of them.”

“That sounds terrible,” Aang said quietly, “I’m glad we found you instead of going up there. I’d always wanted to train with Katara.”

“I’d make them teach me.” Katara said bluntly. “Bending is part of who I am. I wouldn’t let them take it away from me.”

A small smile crossed Yue’s lips. “I can imagine you fighting Master Pakku. It would be quite the show.”

•••

That night, Toph dragged her human heat pack into her rock tent, ignoring his half hearted protests.

“Talk to me, Fireball,” she said as he arranged their blankets, “you’ve been weird since yesterday morning and it’s not just your really obvious crush.”

“It’s not a crush,” he muttered, shoving her lightly. She shoved back with much less consideration, earning a quiet huff of pain.

“It obviously is, but that’s not my point.”

Zuko never lied to her, or even tried to. She would have known if he’d tried, but the fact he never did was nice. They had an unspoken agreement that neither of them hid anything from the other - from Toph’s quiet admissions that she missed her parents to Zuko’s stories about his family in the Fire Nation. She’d never been one to hide her thoughts or feelings, especially since she left home, but only Zuko got to hear the softer and darker parts. What they had was a sort of equivalent exchange that never felt like a trade. It was what she thought family was meant to feel like. No matter how many times she yelled or pushed, or he snapped or avoided, they had this.

“I went to look for Raava.”

She settled in the blanket pile next to him, tucking herself into his side.

“Did you find her?”

“No.”

“Did you want to?”

Zuko sighed and lay down next to her, letting her curl in close. She pretended she didn’t feel him tuck the blankets in around her.

“I don’t think so,” he said after a moment, “I know she’s not like Vaatu, but I wanted to talk to her about Aang.” 

“She’s not like dad-“

“Don’t call him dad, you know he’ll never shut up about it,” Zuko groaned.

“She’s not like dad,” Toph reiterated with a grin, then turned more somber, “she’s not as close to everything as he is.”

“Aang’s twelve.” There was something raw and painful in his voice. “He’s a kid, Toph. He needs someone to look out for him.”

She elbowed him lightly in the stomach. “You’ve known the guy two days and you’re wandering into the spirit world to track down a spirit that probably hates you. You’re going to teach him firebending. You’re looking out for him.”

“But-“

She silenced his protests with another jab to his side. “Now sleep, Sparky. Heat packs don’t talk.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” he mumbled, “or I’d set you on fire.”

“You’re lucky I love you, or I’d bury you in a rock-alanche and leave you there.”

He laughed softly, the spoke so quietly she wondered if she was meant to hear it. “You’re my favourite sister.”

“Course I am,” she said into the blankets, “I’ve barely tried to kill you at all.”

Toph pressed in closer to him, feeling his heartbeat. It was usually fast and a little uneven, which he’d guessed was from the lightning. She half wished she’d been there, because then there wouldn’t be a Fire Lord to worry about any more.   
But she had this instead, which was still nice. 

He didn’t usually like sharing a tent with anyone, because he worried his nightmares might wake them up. Toph had scowled and punched him in the shoulder (“it’s better when you’re here. I can wake you up.” “I don’t want to disturb you.” “You’re my family, dumbass, you get to disturb me all you like.”)

———

“Toph.” There was something poking her in the side. “C’mon, you have to get up.”

She scowled, half asleep and twisted her wrist sharply. From the resulting rumble of rock and yelp from Zuko, she assumed it had worked.

“Come on, we’re leaving soon.”

“No. ‘m not getting up. Come back, ‘m cold.”

She heard Zuko let out and exasperated sigh and then she was lifted up, still cocooned in warm blankets.

“I know you’re doing this on purpose.”

“What’re you gonna do about it?”

When he laughed quietly she could feel it through the layers of fabric. “If you’re not getting up, you’re going on the bison.”

Toph cracked an eye open, just for the dramatic effect. “You wouldn’t dare.”

———

Zuko dared.   
Half an hour later she was clinging onto the side of the saddle with one hand and Zuko’s arm with the other while the asshole laughed at her. The wind was blowing through her hair, which would have been nice in pretty much any other situation. Even the shirshu was better than this, and Nyla liked to sprint through forests at breakneck speed.

She grabbed Zuko tighter as the bison made a grumbling noise. “Don’t worry,” Aang called from somewhere Appa’s head, “that means he’s happy!”

“I don’t care how happy he is, I can’t see!”

She could practically hear Zuko open his mouth to retort, even over the wind. She was pretty sure her grip on his arm was going to bruise. Good.

“As soon as we get down from here,” she warned, “I’m going to start throwing rocks and you better hope you’re getting better at blocking.”

“It’s not that bad,” Sokka said from next to Zuko (he was definitely leaning in close, consciously or not; she’d mercilessly tease them about that as soon as they got their act together), “just don’t look down.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” she said dryly, “looking down.”

“What? It’s- oh. Sorry.”

“Blind, idiot!”

Appa made another noise, deep and rumbling that she felt through the saddle. Zuko laughed, as if she couldn’t feel the way his heart fluttered too. 

“I would like everyone to know,” she grit out, “that I hate you all and June is my favourite now.”

“June isn’t here, she doesn’t count.”

“Yue, then.”

“Aww, thank you, Toph.”

“I also think you deserve to know that Zuko cries every time he watches Love Among the Dragons, regardless of how bad it is.”

“I do not!” Zuko protested hotly, “Yue, stop laughing!”

“Also he’s been trying to grow facial hair for three years and he’s got nothing.”

“I’m disowning you.”

“One time, the turtleduck climbed into his hair and he refused to move for three hours so he wouldn’t disturb her.”

“I will throw you off this bison!”

“It was very cute,” Yue said, “but I’m pretty sure he did it so he wouldn’t have to spend the day with Suki and I on Kyoshi island.”

“Yeah,” Toph shrugged, “you’re insufferable. Every time you looked at each other you got disgustingly sappy. I wanted to cut my feet off.”

“Hey, I thought we were making fun of Zuko!”

“We’re always making fun of Zuko. Also, he dated an vigilante cult leader.”

“No I didn’t!”

“Are you denying that you dated him or that he’s a total weirdo?”

“Both!”

•••

Sokka was learning a lot of things, and only some of them were about Zuko.

“Wait,” Sokka cut in, feeling like a lot of things were making more sense than he wanted them to, “that’s an option?”

Zuko frowned. “Cult leaders? I guess, but it’s always a weird breakup.”

“No! I mean... guys? Like dating guys?”

Things were very quickly slotting together in Sokka’s head and he wasn’t sure if he liked where it was going.

Katara’s eyes widened, and Sokka felt a shock of fear. “Sokka... are you-

Was he...?

“No, I just, I-“

“Are you a complete idiot? Dad and Bato have been together for five years! Are you really that stupid?”

“Dad and Bato have WHAT?”

“Sokka, they share a bed!”

“People do that platonically!”

“You’ve seen them holding hands!”

“As bros!”

“What, were they kissing ‘as bros’ too?”

“I thought that was a joke!”

“Sokka,” Yue cut in, perplexed, “you heard me talk about my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, but you’re girls!”

Zuko now looked utterly amused, and Sokka wanted to punch his stupid (and weirdly attractive, because now that was something he had to think about) face. “Being gay works both ways.”

“Bi, actually,” Yue smiled, “you can like both too. Or no one, or anyone, really, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“You’re so stupid!” Katara was giggling now, and Sokka wordlessly begged Toph to let the earth swallow him up, but oh yeah, blind and several hundred feet up in the air. Damn it.

“Can we go back to making fun of Zuko?” He half pleaded.

“That’s way too easy,” Toph scoffed, “and I’m not passing up on all the ammo you just gave me!”

“I’m having a crisis here!”

And yeah, he kinda was, because a) holy shit dad and Bato, and b) holy shit Zuko.

“Yeah, well now I owe June twenty copper. You deserve this.”

“Did- did you-“ Sokka sputtered, “did you place bets on me?”

“Course we did,” Toph shrugged, “how did you think we got entertainment around here?”

———

Day three, and they encountered a problem. That problem being the ocean. 

“Nyla can’t swim,” June admitted, “and I don’t fancy it either.”

“What if-“

“Zuko, no.”

Okay, now he really wanted to hear that plan. But no one elaborated, and a few hours later, there was a grumbling shirshu strapped to a similarly grumbling Appa.

June sat next to his head, stroking his fur with comforting gentleness he knew better than to comment on.

“You’re okay, Ny,” she murmured, “good boy, we’re nearly there.”

“You love Nyla more than any of us,” Toph complained.

June quirked an eyebrow. “That’s because Nyla is better than all of you.”

———

“There it is!” Toph bolted upright from where she leaned against the side of the saddle. “Look, it’s right there!”

Sokka scrambled up, jolted out of a daydream. “What? Where?”

“Toph,” Zuko heaved a sigh, “we know you’re blind.”

The earthbender let out a delighted cackle and turned to Sokka, waving her hand in front of her eyes.

Then Aang let out a delighted cry - “guys, it’s really here!”

“Not falling for that again!” Sokka snapped.

Katara made an exasperated noise and shuffled closer to Aang. “We really are here, Sokka! Zuko, is this the right place?”

The firebender moved to look, Toph defiantly clinging to his arm and letting him drag her over.

“Vaatu says yes, and also-“ he hesitated for a moment, then sighed, “also we need to bring, quote, ‘the biggest steak you can find’.”

•••

‘What the fuck?’ Zuko thought to Vaatu, slightly concerned the answer would be even more perplexing.

‘This is an important part of the trip, vessel,’ the spirit replied, ‘and key to the events I have been told of.’

‘Been ‘told of’?’

‘I do not have the gift of foresight, but some of my allies do. This trip is vital, for your bending and your future.’

‘Right, because I need to learn the true meaning of firebending and all that spirity stuff-‘

‘Because you get to meet a dragon.’


	9. A Very Unfriendly Triangle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dragon time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the upload schedule died a painful death. From now on the aim is basically a chapter a week until further notice.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the spirit drama and dragons

The Spirit World felt almost empty as Vaatu slipped through the cracks between mortal and immortal worlds. His vessel was sleeping, floating between dreams, and he had time for this.  
He emerged in a forest, but none of the trees seemed to have souls. The leaves were still, the ground bare dirt. Grass sprung up neatly around the roots, drawing out a clear path. The spirit moved soundlessly, but sent up a whisper of air to scatter the dust around him. This was her domain, the least he could do was mess it up a little.

“You called me?” He never bothered with courtesy, not with her.

She was in front of him, without warning. It would have startled anyone else. Raava stood - floated - tall and almost imposing, looking like she were made of pure blue and white light.  
Something like a memory surfaced, a five year old Zuko giggling because “you’re like a friendly triangle!”.  
What did that make Raava?

“You kept me waiting, Vaatu.”

“I had no intention of coming at all. I simply got bored of your constant summons.”

“You sought me out yourself just a few mortal days ago,” Raava pointed out.

“Not me, my vessel.”

“I never took you as one to sway to mortal whims.”

“My vessel wanted to know why you neglect yours. I would like to know the same.” There was bitterness in his tone, but he had no desire to remove it.

“You are corrupting a mortal child.” Raava was always so blunt, never one to dance around her meanings.

“You do the same and call it influencing.”

She shimmered and flickered with annoyance, and he secretly prided himself in being able to bring that out in her.

“You are ‘influencing’ both of them,” she said curtly, “and I give you the opportunity to stop now, without my intervention.”

“I give you the opportunity to step in and care for your vessel, before I do it for you.”

Something like cold laughter emanated from her form.

“You are childish, Vaatu. Some things never change. My vessel knows it’s role and it’s duty. It is to maintain and balance my world-“

“- our world.”

“My world, Vaatu. Yours would be a dark place, and that you cannot deny.”

“Your world would be eternally bright?”

“Without your influence.”

“Then how would they know to appreciate it? There is no value in beauty with no ugliness to compare it to.”

“I do not have the time or patience for your tired arguments and philosophies. You know that above all, they need order.”

“They need balance. You forget the difference, Raava.”

“They need what only I can provide, and only without your tampering. You must release the child you are influencing. You are a danger to the world, and too blind and foolish to see it. Release your human vessel, and I will not have to strike you down again.”

“No.”

Their conversations were always like this, circular and infuriating.

“You leave me no choice but to intervene.”

“You leave me no choice but to fight you.”

A wave of bitterness swept over him, just as another feeling started tugging at him. His vessel was waking up. “Goodbye, little sister.”

“I am no longer your kin, Vaatu. And stay away from my world.”

“Your world,” Vaatu almost hissed, “is named Aang. And I must care for mine.”   
And then, because he was feeling petty, “you’re a very unfriendly triangle.”

•••

[...](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/post/632702136348753920/cutting-this-from-my-fic-was-the-hardest-thing)

•••

Aang was drifting somewhere between worlds, half dreaming, half travelling.

“Greetings, young avatar.” A voice broke the silence, but just barely. It felt more like it was inside than out, each sound wave shooting through him while nothing outside seemed to happen.

He turned, or maybe the world turned around him, to see something in the nothingness with him. It was blurry and hazy, and barely there, but it looked like light itself condensed into a vague shape.

“Hello?” His voice echoed, ricocheting around and bouncing off nothing.

“You will have to make a choice, soon,” the figure said, but there didn’t seem to be a mouth or any other sign that it made noise at all. “I have faith that you will choose what is right, and what my world needs. I chose you to aid the restoration of order, and I know you will not fail me.”

Aang felt his mouth go dry. “Raava?”

“Yes, young avatar.”

Hundreds, thousands of words and questions rushed to the tip of his tongue, but before he could speak, the world started dissolving around him.

“You are waking up. Remember your duty.”

“Aang,” the voice distorted, and sound seemed to crumble as the air darkened and turned opaque.

“ - Aang, wake up.”

When he cracked his eyes open, it was still half dark, the sun barely glowing above the horizon. Zuko looked far more awake than anyone had any right to be.

“What’s wrong?” Aang asked, trying to gather together his thoughts and cling onto the last remnants of his dream.

“Firebending training starts now,” Zuko said bluntly.

Aang stifled a groan and pulled his blanket back up. “Can we start later?”

“No. We should have started an hour ago anyway. We can head out after breakfast, so if we’re going to get any practice in, it should be now.”

“I think I’m starting to understand why people think firebenders are evil.”

———

The mountain next to camp was beautiful, but also tall and Zuko wouldn’t let him airbend his way up. “Why are we doing this? When I do I get to shoot fire out of my hands?”  
Aang was trying not to pout, and judging by the look on Zuko’s face, failing.

“Meditation. And shooting fire out of your hands is lesson two.”

“Can we skip to lesson two?”

“Every time you ask me that, I’m pushing it back another lesson.”

Aang groaned. “I already know how to meditate!”

“Not firebending style.” Zuko stopped at the top, a flat plane of rock, and sat down cross legged. “You need to meditate with the sun - Agni. The source of your fire.”

Aang sat down in front of him, watching as Zuko lit a small flame in his palm. “How do I do that?”

“Feel the sun, the warmth, pay attention to the light. It’s all fire. It’s easier when you can light your own flame and breathe with it, but for now, just feel the sun.”

Aang tilted his head up, watching the sun crawl over the horizon. “Does it work with other types of fire?”

“Yes, but the sun is the safest. Sometimes children are taught with candles first, but most people find it works best with the original source.”

A thought rose up unbidden at the back of his mind. “Vaatu said you were afraid of the sun for a while.”

Zuko’s eyes snapped open, and Aang felt a stab of regret. 

“I was,” he said after a loaded pause, “but that wasn’t because of anything you’ll have to worry about.”

Aang hesitated, wondering if he should push it further. “What happened?” He asked carefully.

For a moment, it looked like Zuko wasn’t going to answer. Then Zuko sighed and raised a hand to gesture to his scar. “I was twelve, I couldn’t really process that all fire wasn’t going to hurt me after that. I didn’t exactly like being around fire for a while.”

“Oh.” It didn’t seem right to ask any more questions, and the calm atmosphere was well and truly shattered. “I’m sorry.”

Zuko offered him a clearly forced smile. “Don’t worry about it, everyone has questions. Let’s just focus on the meditation.”

It was a clear diversion, but Aang was glad for the opportunity to close his eyes and not think too hard about the questions rising up in the back of his mind. 

———

The sun was still low in the sky when they got back to camp, but the others were milling around serving breakfast.

“Morning, Twinkletoes!” Toph called, “How was the first morning of Zuko’s nightmare schedule?”

“It wasn’t too bad,” Aang lied, desperately trying not to yawn, “I’ll get used to it.”

Katara handed him and Zuko bowls as they sat down around the fire pit, and then turned to the pot, carefully bending the jook into the air. It trembled a little, and Sokka held his bowl up like a shield.

“Can we get breakfast in the bowls, not on us?”

Katara rolled her eyes and flicked his portion towards him, snickering when he squeaked and barely managed to catch it. The rest was delivered much more gently, much to Sokka’s annoyance. “Why don’t you leave the bending out of meals?”

Katara ignored him, glancing almost shyly at Yue. “You’re an amazingly quick learner,” the other girl smiled, “you’ll be a master in no time.”

Katara grinned, flushing slightly and turned to her food. “I had the best teacher.”

———

By the time they set out, Aang’s excitement was fully renewed. “What do you think we’ll find?”

The forest was practically a jungle, dense and thick with plant life. The path was barely visible, a dirt track almost swallowed by leaves and bark.

Zuko shrugged and glanced at Mochi the turtleduck, happily settled in his hands. “Vaatu won’t tell me much, and it’s pretty much all the usual cryptic comments.”

Mochi blinked, and then her eyes were all of a sudden deep red. “To see what the future holds, we must revisit the past.”

“See? Cryptic shi- stuff,” Zuko sighed.

“We are almost there,” the spirit-slash-turtleduck said, “you will see soon enough.”

“How close is almost?” Aang asked, jogging ahead a little to glance over the hill. “Is it- oh! We’re here!”

“The Sun Warriors’ ruins,” Vaatu said, “and a sacred place for all firebenders.”

The ruins were expansive, sprawling over the landscape - a city of stone, half overrun with vines and leaves as plants crawled up the walls and pillars.

“It’s beautiful,” Aang breathed.

“It is,” Vaatu agreed, “and also full of deadly traps, so be careful. Have fun.”

And the the turtleduck was back to normal, non glowing black eyes before Aang could protest. “It’s what? Vaatu!”

“At least he warned us,” Zuko shrugged, but he didn’t sound like he was feeling great about the ‘deadly’ part either.

“Well,” Aang sighed, “I guess we should head in.”

The path quickly turned from dirt to stone, winding down the hillside and through the remnants of crumbling buildings. As they neared the centre, Aang absentmindedly noted how well preserved some of them looked. That was probably the thought that stopped him from noticing the tripwire.

The ground tore apart with a rumble, and Aang jolted back, barely inches from the spikes before he managed to push himself back with a blast of air. 

“Zuko, I think this place is trying to kill me!”

Zuko had stopped short, staring wide eyed at the trap. “Spirits-“

“That was terrifying!”

“This is so well designed! And it still works after all this time? This is aweso- oh” he caught sight of Aang’s unimpressed stare, “oh yeah, this is awful...”

Aang decided this was not an argument he had the energy for. “We should be more careful - we can’t turn back if the spirits sent us, but this place is definitely dangerous.”

Zuko nodded thoughtfully, and before Aang could offer to airbend him across the spike-pit, jumped forward, kicking off the wall and landing gracefully next to him.

“Can you teach me how to do that?”

“Sure, once you master breathing and sitting in the sun.”

———

The centre of the Sun Warriors’ village seemed even better preserved than the rest of it, standing tall and strong despite some wear from weather and the slow reclaiming of nature. Even the carved murals barely looked touched by the passage of time. They depicted firebending, battles and-

“Dragons!” Aang exclaimed, “I didn’t know the Sun Warriors learned from dragons!”

Zuko studied the wall with an odd expression - contemplative, but tinged with sadness.

“What’s wrong?”

The firebender paused for a moment, then looked at Aang almost warily. “Do you know what happened to the dragons?”

A cold feeling settled in his stomach. “What do you mean?”

“Fire Lord Sozin,” Zuko started, turning back to the elaborate carvings, “he... he started the tradition of dragon hunting. The Fire Nation hunted them to extinction, but-“

“What?” It tore out of Aang’s throat, shocked and desperate - he remembered seeing them before, huge and powerful and supposedly invulnerable. They seemed untouchable.

“Not all of them-“ Zuko said sharply, “Vaatu told me not all of them are gone, but...”

He seemed to stop himself from saying something else. “But what?”

“The last dragon the Fire Nation knew of was killed only a couple of decades ago. By my uncle.”

It was the first time, Aang realised, he’d heard Zuko talk about a family other than June, Toph and Yue. He was starting to understand why.

“Your uncle killed the last dragon?”

A small, humourless smile appeared on Zuko’s face. “And he was the nicest member of my family. I just- I don’t know if the spirits, or whatever is here, will be happy with me staying long.”

“Well,” Aang said carefully, “so far this place has only tried to kill me.”

“Fair point,” Zuko shrugged, and turned to look at the ground in front of the doors, “but I don’t think it’s going to like what I’m about to do.”

———

“I’m pretty sure this is breaking and entering,” Aang muttered.

“Who’s going to arrest us, the trees? Anyway, we did their dance, at least we learned something.”

“Still, let’s just be careful and- Zuko don’t touch that!”

Zuko touched it.

———

“What are we meant to do!?”

“Think about our place in the universe?”

———

The Sun Warriors were very alive and very angry.

“Look, I don’t play this card often, but I’m the Avatar! And Zuko is-“

“His firebending teacher. Look, I’m sorry about all this, but we didn’t know you were still here!”

Yeah, maybe dropping the ‘second avatar’ bomb was a little dangerous.

The chief’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, suddenly regarding Zuko coldly. “Zuko? As in-“

“I’m no longer a part of the Fire Nation. Or that family.”

Tension simmered below their words, with a layer of insinuation Aang couldn’t quite read. There was something being said that he couldn’t quite pick up, but he was pretty sure it went deeper than Zuko being related to Fire Nation nobility and dragon slayers.

“The spirits sent us here!” Aang said quickly, and all eyes were back on him. There was something like relief in Zuko’s eyes. “I’m really sorry we caused so much trouble, but Agni told us to come here.”

“Agni?” The Chief’s expression was still unreadable, but he nodded and didn’t immediately order their executions, so Aang decided to count this as a win.

“He said we needed to learn about true fire,” Aang continued, trying to remember what else Zuko had said, “and, uh, spirit stuff.”

“Spirit stuff,” the Chief repeated blankly.

“Um, it’s very important spirit stuff,” Aang tried.

The Chief sighed. “I’m sure it is. Alright then, I suppose we can introduce you to the masters.”

One of the tribesmen behind him chuckled in a very unreassuring way.

•••

Zuko was three seconds away from freaking the fuck out. Dragons. There were two dragons, neither he nor Aang had fire for them, and now the kid wanted him to dance. He had planned to die dramatically, and dancing didn’t really cut it.  
But then again, if he lived he could just talk Aang into never bringing it up again. 

The form - the Dancing Dragon - felt both alien and familiar. It was unlike any of the katas learned from royal tutors, but also felt far more natural. And it gave him something to focus on rather than the massive fucking dragons that could incinerate him in a second if they wanted to. 

There was a pause, loaded and deadly, as they finished, and Zuko hoped his own trepidation was not as obvious as Aang’s. He’d decided that he would defend the kid at all costs, but this was honestly ridiculous. He just really hoped he didn’t have to fight a dragon.

Then Ran and Shaw reared their mighty heads, the the sky was on fire.

Flames showered down over them, and once the surge of blind panic calmed, his heart was hammering for different reasons. It was beautiful, a myriad of colours so like Agni’s fire. It was captivating - almost hypnotic - and he understood. It wasn’t just pain and fear, it was life. It wasn’t just the power to harm, it was the power to resist the urge to harm. The dragons could have reduced them to ash without a second thought, but chose instead to share their knowledge and beauty.

When it started fading, shimmering through the air and leaving only traces of colour, Zuko almost wished it would stay.

“That was incredible,” Aang breathed, reverent. 

The words stuck on his tongue, so Zuko just nodded.

“Well,” the Chief said when they reached the bottom of the stairs, “it appears the masters deemed you worthy.”

The warrior next to him muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “what a shame”.

But there was still a thought in the back of his mind demanding his attention. “My uncle said he killed the last dragon.”

The Chief considered for a moment, then nodded slowly. “He said he did,” a trace of a smile crossed his face, “but he chose to protect them. Your uncle was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy of the secrets of fire.”

“He can’t have been that bad then,” Aang said, with that endlessly optimistic tone in his voice. Zuko nodded, because Aang really didn’t need to know the rest of the story.

———

As it turned out, Aang’s amazing ability to befriend literally anyone extended to supposedly extinct firebender civilisations. Zuko might have been jealous of his endless charisma, if the thought of being constantly sociable didn’t make him want to crawl into a hole and die. For some spirits forsaken reason, there was a party. He was becoming more and more glad that he hadn’t disclosed his avatar status, because Aang was being pulled in every direction to talk or dance or do whatever people did with avatars.  
Even the Sun Warrior who kept making thinly veiled comments about wishing the dragons had eaten them seemed to be in a better mood, joining in with the festivities.

Naturally, everything crashed and burned because of Zuko.

Well, he couldn’t exactly take all the blame. Just most of it. The Sun Stone was brought out, almost glowing in the dusk, and passed around. Someone said something about magical properties - soothing, healing, forging bonds and strengthening alliances. The hum of chatter faded a little, and everyone seemed almost as entranced by it as Zuko had been when he first saw it.

Then Aang passed it to him, and something changed. There was a thrum of energy below its surface, faint but sure. Then the Chief looked up sharply from his conversation, just a second before it moved. Zuko almost dropped the gem, managing to regain his balance just before it jolted again.

“What’s happening?” Aang asked, alarmed, as the Sun Stone started trembling.

Then the Sun Stone was cracking.   
Zuko suddenly felt very exposed, because everyone was looking at him in abject shock and a horror.

“Spirits, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise it was fragile, I didn’t mean to break it, I’ll-“

“It’s not.”

“What?”

“It’s not fragile,” the chief said slowly, “and it’s not broken.”

“Wha-“

“You’re kidding me.” The warrior next to the chief snapped. “A century of nothing and it hatches the second a kid touches it?!”

“It... hatches?”

“And not just a kid, a stupid one apparently!”

“Ham Ghao-“ the chief said sharply, “we cannot expect to know more than the masters of their plans.”

Zuko was barely following the conversation because the Sun Stone was still in his hands, still very warm, and still steadily falling apart. Should he put it down? He pointedly did not look at Aang, because he was not ready for the inevitable ‘I told you not to touch the shiny thing you idiot’ look that he often got from Yue. 

Then, along with Zuko’s hopes of leaving this place alive and unmaimed, the Sun Stone exploded.

Well, not quite that dramatically. But it did suddenly crack apart, sending little gold fragments everywhere and there was suddenly something even warmer in Zuko’s hands. Something red and scaly and staring at him with big adorable eyes.

“Fuck.”

“Don’t curse in front of children!” Aang protested.

“Oh, they’re both stupid.” Ham Ghao muttered. “Great.”

Zuko looked up at the chief somewhat helplessly, and the baby dragon took that as an opportunity to launch itself forward and latch onto his shirt.

“Well I think that answers that question.”

“What?” Zuko’s head was spinning, because there was a supposedly extinct creature nestling it’s head into his shoulder and purring (dragons purred?).

“The young master seems to have chosen you.” The chief intoned. “The Masters’ egg was dormant for almost a century, yet hatched in your hands. And already he seems to be attached.”

“So...” Zuko had to ask, but he was pretty sure if anyone tried to take away this little bundle of purring scales away he would cry - “What does that mean?”

A small smile appeared for a fleeting second. “I know from experience that dragons do not take well to being denied. I doubt we could take him away if we tried.”

Zuko was possibly about to start crying anyway, because appropriate handling of emotions had never been his strong suit. 

•••

When Aang and Zuko returned to camp, Yue was immediately suspicious. She’d known Zuko long enough to recognise the ‘I did something stupid but at least I’m not dead’ face. That expression was usually followed by a dramatic collapse from an injury he was to proud to admit it having. At this point, she was pretty sure he just did it for the drama.

“You’re back!” Sokka called excitedly, “Did you learn magic fire stuff?”

Aang nodded enthusiastically and gestured wildly at the bundle in Zuko’s arms. “And we adopted a kid!”

“You what now-“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m on [Tumblr](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/), so come pester me to write over there


	10. No One Likes Jet (except the author)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jet. No further comments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait! Exams and health issues, blah blah blah, anyway I should be more consistent now. I might not do weekly updates, but the next couple should be pretty quick
> 
> Welcome to the longest chapter yet!

It became quickly obvious that Zuko was absolutely besotted with the little dragon. After much debate, which quickly turned borderline violent, he was named Druk. Sokka was rapidly learning that most discussions in Team Chaos were a wild ride from start to finish, and rarely ended without weapons drawn. The whole debacle had ended with Sokka clinging to the side of Appa’s saddle for dear life as Aang talked them out of fighting several hundred feet in the air.

But now little Druk was curled up in Zuko’s arms, purring softly, and the firebender looked at him so adoringly it made Sokka’s heart hurt. In the early afternoon sun, the world all of a sudden felt soft and warm. The dragon was half asleep, his eyes half closed slits of amber; little claws kneading into Zuko’s shirt like an owl kitten. He was deceptively adorable.

Deceptively being the key word, because Sokka had tried to feed the little terror a piece of meat and almost lost a finger. He’d fit right in on Team Chaos.  
The flight back to Nuzisu was almost peaceful after that, though, as everyone was either entranced by the baby dragon or subtly shuffling as far away as possible.

Aang was still practically vibrating with excitement, rambling about fire and life, and throwing around some very colourful but will nerve wracking flames. 

“Careful,” Zuko chided, “I’m only ninety percent sure Druk is fireproof.”

“Sorry Sifu Hotman-“ Zuko looked like he was about to protest, but Aang barrelled on- “is there anything else you can show me? Like fireballs? Or fire whips? Or fire-“

“Maybe when we’re on solid ground and next to water...” he glanced down at Druk and seemed to consider something. “If I’m going to teach you firebending... how would you feel about teaching airbending?”

Aang practically lit up. “Of course! We can teach each other our elements!”

“That’s not quite what I had in mind.”

Aang looked quizzical for a second, then a look of trepidatious excitement appeared on his face. “Do... do you know another airbender?”

Zuko gave a small nod, and continued despite the emotional journey playing out across Aang’s face. “She’s from the Fire Nation, but she travels with the circus - if I write to her, I can find out where she is. She deserves to learn from a master, it’s been hard for her growing up with an element she can’t fully control.”

“Of course I’ll teach her!” Aang exclaimed, eyes shining, then continued much more softly, “I can’t believe there are other airbenders left.”

“She’s the only one I know of,” Zuko admitted, “but I’m certain there are others either unaware or hiding it. It’s really the safest thing to do at the moment.”

Aang nodded, expression saddening a little, then hardening into a resolve. “When the war ends, I’ll track down as many as I can. I won’t let my culture die.”

Katara placed a hand on his shoulder with a warm look. “You’re keeping it alive just by being here.”

The airbender offered a small smile, putting a hand over hers. “One day I’ll rebuild the temples, and show you what it was like. It was beautiful,” he said, melancholy, wistfulness and hope tinging his voice.

He glanced over at Zuko. “What about you? I can teach you and your friend airbending at the same time.”

“I actually had a different idea,” Zuko said, completely deadpan, “I want to learn from your bison.”

———

Two hours later, Sokka still wasn’t sure if Zuko was fucking with them or if he genuinely wanted to study airbending from a ten tonne flying bison.

•••

The first fireball came out of nowhere, lighting up the dusky sky with a roar of flame.

Appa let out a bellow, rearing back and almost sending them flying off the saddle. At Toph’s alarmed cry, Zuko caught her by the back of her shirt, yanking her back. He could feel his heart pounding, in tandem with hers, and she didn’t push him away as he held her tight to his chest. 

“What’s going on?” Sokka yelled, peering down as Appa righted himself in the sky. Then - “Zhao!”

It felt like a tonne of steel dropped into Zuko’s stomach. Druk made a quiet chirring noise and curled around his neck, shoving his head under Zuko’s shirt.

“Well then let’s get the fuck out of here!” Toph practically screeched, maintaining a vicelike grip on Zuko’s arm.

Yue let out a shaky laugh. “For once, I’m with Toph.”

“C’mon, Appa! Yip yip!” Aang called from the bison’s head, pulling the reins sharply as the second projectile launched.

Zuko glanced down, careful not to lean too far with Toph still clinging to him. The ship below was all too familiar, dark steel cutting through the water. “The rest of the fleet isn’t far behind, it looks like that was just a scouting ship. We need to get to land fast.”

Another fireball streaked past, and it felt like time crawled to a cattersnail’s pace as its course took it mere feet above them. Zuko glanced at Toph, then started untangling her arms from his. “What are you doing?” She hissed, but there was a tremor in her voice.

“Trust me,” he caught June’s eye, and she tugged Toph over to her. Druk seemed to figure out what was happening, and dug his little needle like claws into Zuko’s shoulder.

“You better have a plan, dumbass.”

“Of course I don’t, you know be better than that, June.”

There was a protest from someone - probably Sokka - as he stood up, but it quickly died when the next blast arced towards them. Zuko distantly prayed to Agni this would work.

The next missile, like the others, was mostly wood, but the tar binding it together was flammable and sticky - and most importantly, hopefully, earth based. His stance wasn’t as rooted as he would have liked with the turbulence, but he wasn’t going to complain to the bison currently keeping them alive. 

He could feel the heat even from metres away - the fire. Ty Lee would say something about chi or energy, but all he needed right now was the way his own inner fire crackled up to meet it, and let him drain away the heat and energy with a sharp sweep of his arm. Of course, there was still a massive ball of wood and tar careening towards his face, but a well timed strike made it shatter like glass.

“Holy shit.” When he turned, Sokka was staring at him wide eyed.

“Not now, Snoozles!” Toph snapped, “Have your sexuality crisis when we’re on the ground!”

Thankfully, another fireball shot towards them before Zuko could think too hard about that.

———

The landing was probably better described as a crash, the bison careening into the treetops and sending most of them flying into the undergrowth. Zuko was vaguely aware of pain pretty much everywhere as he curled himself tightly around Druk to protect him from the impact, but he stumbled to his feet, scanning the crash site for the others. Everyone seemed mostly unharmed, pulling themselves up. Toph, at least, was unharmed enough to storm over to him and hit him in the arm, hard.

“You’re an ass,” Toph declared, and pulled him into a fierce hug. “I hate you.”

He hugged her back, deciding not to answer, because his arm already hurt enough.

“Is everyone okay?” Sokka asked, anxiously glancing between them all.

Katara and Aang had landed together in a thankfully soft looking mossy area, and Yue was already up and checking Toph for any scrapes or bruises. The earthbender allowed it, but didn’t loosen her vicelike grip on Zuko’s side.

“Nyla‘s hurt!” June called sharply.

She was frowning as she untied the shirshu from the saddle, cradling his head in her lap. “I think his leg got caught in the crash.”

“How bad is it?” Zuko peered over, seeing how Nyla awkwardly held his left foreleg, whining softly.

“It needs setting.” June said grimly. “And healing, or rest. Yue, can you...?”

That vulnerability only ever showed in her eyes when Nyla was involved. Yue gave a tight nod. “I’ll do what I can. But I can’t promise it will work. Do you want to set it, or should I? Someone needs to hold him down.”

“I can hold him,” Sokka volunteered, but his reluctance to be on the wrong end of a flailing shirshu was clear.

June smirked, a little weaker than usual. “You’re best keeping your limbs, kid. Zuko and I can hold him, Yue can set it. Can you get the medical kit out?”

Sokka nodded, hurrying to gather up and sort through the scattered supplies. Zuko knelt down next to June, gently pressing his hands onto the shirshu’s side. Not holding him down yet, but if Nyla struggled, they would definitely need both his and June’s strength.

“Ready?” Yue asked, hesitant. She was a skilled healer, but it wasn’t her best or favourite type of bending. 

“You’ll do fine,” June said, offering her a rare, calm smile. Yue nodded stiffly, carefully taking hold of the injured leg. 

“Sorry, Nyla,” she murmured.

The shirshu howled, and almost threw them both off, but June pressed him down, carding her fingers through his fur and whispering comfortingly in his ear. “You’re okay, Ny. Good boy, you’re fine. I’m here.”

Yue pulled some water from the air, gently coating the limb as Nyla trembled a little. She bit her lip, but after a moment it glowed a gentle blue. He heard Katara gasp quietly, intently watching Yue work. Her face was a mask of concentration, finishing up her work and taking a bandage from Sokka to wrap the area. June hadn’t looked up from Nyla’s face, but her grip relaxed a little as the shirshu did.

He remembered one night they had spent in the woods, with June’s smuggled saké and her story about finding Nyla. He knew ‘I’m here’ wasn’t what she wanted to say, or what Nyla wanted to hear (“it was supposed to be two of us, and Nyla,” June had whispered, “now it’s just me and him. We were going to raise him together”). She was looking at him with a glint of something small and sad in her eyes, before she blinked sharply and turned to the group, her sharp expressions back full force.

“He’ll need to rest, at least for the night. But we can’t just camp here, especially if that bastard is on our tail.”

There were murmurs of agreement, then Sokka spoke up. “I have an idea, but you’re going to need to trust my instincts.”

“I already hate this idea,” Katara said dryly.

“This is Appa’s fault.”

Aang spun around and fixed him with an unnervingly fierce glare. “What did you just say?”

“Not like that!” Sokka threw up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying he’s the reason we’re being spotted! He’s just not inconspicuous enough.”

“So what do you suggest?” Aang asked dubiously, still looking ready to fight for his bison’s honour if necessary.

“We walk.”

“Well,” Katara shrugged, “I was right. I hate it.”

“Come on, Katara! They’ll just spot us again. We can’t let anyone else get hurt.” There was a gleam of intensity in his eyes, one Zuko was familiar with. He recognised the overwhelming need to protect.

“I agree with Sokka,” he said, and Toph muffled a comment that sounded awfully like ‘dumbass crush’ into his side.

Sokka looked legitimately surprised. “What, really? Wait, I mean, of course! That’s because I’m right!”

June scoffed, but started standing up, helping Nyla tentatively test his healed leg. “I guess I’m in, but I don’t know how far he’ll get.”

“He could ride in Appa’s saddle,” Aang suggested, and the shirshu snorted. At this point, Zuko fully believed Nyla understood them. “He might not like it, but it’s better than risking injuring the leg again. Plus Appa won’t be flying.”

Nyla grumbled, then peered warily at Appa. The bison let out a low rumble, lowering himself to the ground when Aang directed him to.  
Nyla was limping a little, but let June guide him over. Zuko was fairly certain that if he had eyes, he would be glaring. The shirshu settled in the saddle, still sitting awkwardly with the injured leg stuck out; it would probably still be painful, even with Yue’s efforts, for a few days.

“Which way should we go?” Katara asked, then glanced at her brother. “Any suggestions from Sokka’s instincts?”

———

Zuko was possibly going slightly insane, because they had been walking for hours and he was pretty sure the trees were staring to look familiar. Toph, tired of walking and still punching him harder than usual, had climbed onto his shoulders and demanded he carry her. Druk was perched on his head, and he was pretty sure he and Toph were having a silent battle for dominance.  
He was just about ready to join in on ruthlessly mocking Sokka’s instincts.

“Do you have any idea where we could be?” Sokka asked, scanning the tree line. The same tree line that probably hadn’t changed at all since he last asked. 

“I don’t know,” Zuko said a little helplessly, “I think- oh. Oh shit.”

Zuko stopped in his tracks, and slowly looked up. The forest had seemed familiar because it was. He knew this forest better than any other forest. He shoved Druk into his shirt, ignoring the dragon’s little surprised huff.

“What?” Sokka asked, alarmed at the sudden shift.

“Jet.”

“Uh... Jet?”

He nodded grimly. “Jet.”

June groaned. “Fucking Jet.”

“What?” Katara cut in, perplexed. “Who’s Jet?”

“You’re probably about to find out,” Zuko muttered, catching a flash of movement in one of the trees. They weren’t at the camp yet, but there were already small platforms and ropes amongst the branches. 

Yue appeared next to him and patted him on the shoulder, but there was definitely a gleam in her eyes. “I’m sure you could persuade him to help us out. We need somewhere safe for Nyla to rest.”

“I would rather die than talk to him again.

She scoffed lightly, tugging him forward. “Saying that loses its impact when you would rather die than do most things. Last week you told me you would rather die than talk about feelings.”

“And that point stands. But we shouldn’t stay here long. Let’s just never see Jet again.”

Sokka froze just ahead of them. “That might not be a problem anymore.”

Zuko barely had time to look up and process the fact that they had literally walked into a Fire Nation camp before Sokka was yelling “surrender now and we won’t have to fight you!”

“What are you doing?” Katara hissed incredulously.

“Bluffing!” Sokka snapped back, clutching his club tightly.

An admirable effort, but no, apparently.

The soldiers struck first, but the shock seemed to have at least thrown off some of their more precise and synchronised attacks. But they were still formidable, and Zuko was the only one here who was even partially okay getting fire thrown at him. Toph scrambled down to the ground, sending the entire camp trembling. But she still getting her bearings, and they were still surrounded. Zuko unsheathed his swords, driving back two of the soldiers and trying to keep track of everyone else.

Yue had clearly already taught Katara a few techniques, both of them quickly dousing any fires that sprung up. Aang was somehow fighting three soldiers without delivering a blow, which was surprisingly effective. Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko watched as he dodged two attacks, sending the two firebenders crashing into each other. 

He ducked under a spear, then finally caught sight of June - in front of Appa and Nyla, fiercely holding back two attackers with her whip. Toph had joined her, throwing up walls of stone and breaking them into shrapnel with ruthless precision.

And Sokka was at the edge of the fray, swinging his club with an unusual but undeniably effective technique. Zuko deflected another surge of flame, then managed to sweep the bender’s legs out from under him, sending him sprawling. 

But there were still more of them, and Sokka and Katara were still largely untrained, and Aang’s refusal to hurt anyone, while admirable, was not helping. He barely caught the movement to his left, barely registering to the mostly blind eye. But he definitely saw another figure jump into the battle on his right. A moment later, he was dodging a sword.

A very specific sword.

That quickly found its mark, hooking the soldier that had been about to land a hit on Zuko and yanking him down to the ground.

“Jet.” He managed not to sigh, but only because he was out of breath.

“What, no ‘thank you’? You’re welcome anyway.”

“Either help us, or get lost.”

But as much as Zuko hated to admit it, Jet’s help was invaluable. The dramatic entrance, however, was wholly unnecessary.

•••

The rest of the fight was almost embarrassingly short when the kids from the forest showed up. Sokka wasn’t sure if it was more embarrassing for the soldiers, now thoroughly tied up on the ground while their supplies got plundered by children, or him. After the asshole with the hook swords took down every soldier he tried to fight, he still somehow found time to make small talk with Zuko.

Sokka didn’t like Jet. So far, he’d known the guy for all of five seconds, and he already wanted to punch his stupid smug face with his stupid eyebrows and stupid wheat stick thing.

“Hey,” he said, with a grin that Sokka already wanted to physically tear off his face.

“Jet.” Zuko said evenly, but he looked like he was having similar thoughts.

“Well it’s great to see you again,” Jet said, and the stupid piece of wheat in his mouth-

Wait a fucking second.

“Wait!” Sokka practically yelled, “You’re the wheat and cults guy!”

Jet raised a truly ridiculous eyebrow and glanced at Zuko. “What do you tell people about me?”

The firebender sighed. “This is Jet. He tried to recruit me into his cult-“

“Stop calling it a cult.”

“Sorry, his vigilante child gang-“

“That’s not-“

“Murder daycare-“

“No-“

“Speaking of, where’s the cult?” June drawled, amusement tinging her tone.

“Not a cult,” Jet said, with the air of someone who had had this particular conversation many times. “The rest of the Freedom Fighters are back at our base.”

Sokka saw the exact moment Katara decided she liked the guy. “Freedom Fighters? That’s amazing!”

———

Jet’s base was a glorified treehouse, and Sokka refused to be impressed (and if he was fascinated by the pulley mechanisms, no one had to know). The jerk literally swept Katara off her feet, and Sokka rolled his eyes so hard it hurt.

“Who does he think he’s impressing?” Sokka muttered.

“Well,” Yue said with a mischievous smile, “it worked on Zuko.”

Zuko flushed bright red, scowling. “No it didn’t!”

“What did you even see in him?” Sokka asked, trying not to sound judgemental, even though right now he was feeling incredibly judgemental.

“I think I still had brain damage at that point.”

“Only logical explanation,” June shrugged. “I mean, have you seen the guys eyebrows?”

Toph sighed. “You guys make me wish I could see them, but touching his face is a line I’ll never cross.”

Sokka considered for a moment. “They look like the long division sign.”

“Snoozles, do you know what blind means?”

“Oh, sorry.”

“And speaking of blind,” the earthbender shrugged, “I’m not climbing up there. I’ll stay down with June and Nyla and good old fashioned solid earth.”

Jet reappeared a moment later down the side of a tree, moving quickly from branch to branch, with way too much dramatic flair for Sokka’s taste. He grinned at Zuko. “Need help getting up?”

“No.” Zuko said flatly.

Jet shrugged, and caught onto another one of the hanging ropes, shooting back up. 

“Not going to offer me any help?” Sokka half yelled after him.

“I’ll help you,” Zuko offered. Yue let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh into her sleeve, then hurried over to where June was coaxing Nyla out of Appa’s saddle, Toph following and muttering something under her breath.

Zuko went slightly pink, but rolled his eyes. “How good are you at climbing?”

Zuko did not dramatically carry him up a tree, and Sokka was definitely not at all disappointed in any way. Nope, not at all.

———

“We struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine!”

Sokka shot a surreptitious look at Zuko out of the corner of his eye, but the firebender just sighed. “He knows. He’s just a dick.”

———

When Jet asked him for help on a special mission, it took all of Sokka’s strength not to laugh in his face or just straight up punch him. But he didn’t. It was probably Katara’s fault, she was practically gushing about the guy all morning. ‘Oh Jet’s so great, Jet’s so smart, Jet can fight so much better than Sokka’ - or maybe the last one was Sokka getting jealous, but that wasn’t the point. 

Even Zuko seemed to think Jet was harmless. Sure, he was down to make fun of the guy’s eyebrows, mouth wheat and cultish tendencies at any moment, but he didn’t seem to actually dislike him.  
When Sokka asked, Zuko just shrugged. “He’s not a bad guy, we just didn’t work out. I mean, he’s an asshole, but it’s not like he takes candy from kids or beats up old people for fun.” 

Jet’s ‘special mission’ turned out to be beating up an old guy. Which - wow. Sokka had low expectations and Jet used them like a limbo bar. Naturally, Katara was unconvinced.

“He was an assassin sent to kill me!” Jet protested. “Sokka, you helped save my life.”

“There was no knife!” Sokka resisted yelling, barely.

“He concealed it,” Jet said calmly.

Sokka was feeling anything but calm. “Katara, are you siding with a guy we just met over me?”

“There are no sides!” Katara snapped. “You’re just being petty with Jet because of your stupid crush!”

He blinked, confusion quickly blotting out his anger. “Crush? I don’t have a crush on Jet!”

Katara stared at him for a moment, then slapped her palm against her forehead. “Spirits, Sokka. You’re so dumb.”

“I do not have a crush on Jet!” His voice went up at least an octave in shock and horror. Anyone but Jet.

“No one said you did! I was talking abou-“

“Yes you did, and I’m very offended! My standards are not that low!”

“Well,” Jet said, suddenly and unfortunately reminding everyone he was there, “I think I’ll leave you guys alone to have this conversation.”

“No!” Sokka snapped, and shoved past him to the door. “I’m not staying here if you’re going to accuse me of liking Jet!”

“Come on, Sokka,” Aang said placatingly. “No one likes Jet.”

“I like Jet,” Katara and Jet said at the same time.

The door wasn’t exactly slammable, but Sokka made a good effort as he stormed out.

———

He found Zuko sitting at the edge of one of the platforms, legs dangling over the edge. He leaned forward against the rope barrier, talking to June, saying something that made her grin sharply. Druk was sprawled across the platform beside them, basking in the sunlight filtering through the trees. 

“You were wrong.” Sokka announced as he approached. “Jet actually beats up old people for fun.”

“Huh,” June said, “called it.”

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked, frowning.

Sokka dropped down next to him, feeling anger roll over him like a wave. “He attacked an old man just because he was Fire Nation! And when I told Katara he claimed the guy was an assassin!”

“Katara believed him?” Zuko asked dubiously.

“Yeah, and then she accused me of having a crush on him!”

Zuko’s eyebrow shot up. “You have a crush on Jet?”

Sokka flopped down on the platform and briefly screamed. 

“This is great.” June’s amused voice reached him. “I’m gonna go get popcorn, no one move.”

“Fuck off,” Zuko said lightly. 

“I don’t like Jet,” Sokka grit out. “Katara likes Jet and that’s the problem.”

“Sokka,”Zuko appeared in his field of vision, leaning over him slightly. His hair was falling around his face, loosened from its tie. “No one likes Jet.”

June barked out a laugh. Sokka groaned. “I just want to get out of here. How soon will Nyla be okay to travel?”

“We could probably leave tomorrow,” June said. “As long as he doesn’t push it, it should be fine for him to walk on soon.”

“Thank the spirits,” Sokka muttered. “I’ll go tell the others.”

•••

“Jet’s a good person!” Katara snapped for what felt like the hundredth time. Sokka was still scowling. “You’re just jealous of him. And we can’t leave yet, he needs our help to save the forest.”

“What, does he need you to water whip some more of the elderly?”

She bit back a yell of frustration, turning away from him. “He needs waterbenders to fill the dam. The Fire Nation are going to burn down the forest, and he needs to to put it out.”

“He’s using you, Katara!”

The dam inside her broke. “Stop being so petty! You’re just being childish and stupid because he’s a better leader and a better fighter than you! You’re just an immature, insecure child!”

Her chest was heaving, heart pounding. He looked like he was about to yell something back, but more words rose up in her. “No, Sokka! You just can’t cope with the fact he’s better at all the things you want to be good at! And you’re jealous that Zuko liked him before you!”

“What does Zuko have to do with this?” Sokka demanded, but he looked legitimately confused. In any other circumstance, she would have laughed.

“Look, Sokka,” she forced herself to relax, to stop shouting at him. “I trust Jet. My instincts say that Jet is right. He’s doing good things, even if you don’t agree with how he does them.”

“Fine,” Sokka said, but it didn’t take a genius to see he didn’t mean it. “But we leave as soon as you’re done with the dam.”

———

Jet had managed to talk her, Aang, Yue and Zuko into helping, though each with varying levels on enthusiasm. It was much faster with four of them, two at each geyser - thankfully easy to bend after Aang’s near miss, getting shot several feet into the air. The familiar push and pull of water was soothing, something to think about that wasn’t Sokka’s fury or Jet’s charming, disarming smiles.

“Great work,” he said, grinning. “This is perfect. I’ll go check on things at the reservoir.”

“Great, we’ll meet you there when we’re done.”

“Actually, better meet me back at the hideout.”

———

It took Katara a second to recognise those red barrels. 

“Why would they need blasting jelly?” Katara murmured, ice sweeping through her blood.

“Because,” Aang’s tone was suddenly scared, but sure, “Jet’s going to blow up the dam.”

“Jet wouldn’t do that,” Katara protested, but the words didn’t sound right the second they hit the air.

“Jet wouldn’t do that,” she repeated, desperately searching for another explanation.

“I have to stop him,” Aang said grimly, clutching his gilder.

“He wouldn’t.” It didn’t sound true.

“Yes, I would.”

•••

Zuko felt Jet move a split second before he did. He couldn’t use earth sense like Toph, but it wasn’t hard to pick up on the thrum of tension that vibrated through a person as they poised to strike. He drew his swords and lunged at the same time as Jet, managing to knock one aside before it could catch Aang’s glider. But he was too slow, the other sending it clattering across the rocky ground.

“Jet, what are you doing?” Katara demanded.

“Stopping the Fire Nation.” He looked up, locking eyes with Zuko. “Someone has to.”

Zuko surged forward again, managing to push Jet back a few paces. They were probably equally matched with swords, but Zuko wasn’t going to bend against him.

He knew Jet wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t be dissuaded, and certainly wouldn’t back down. But all he needed was to push him far enough from the airbender’s glider.

Jet fought more fiercely than he ever had before, and dread pooled in Zuko’s stomach when he caught sight of the look on his face. It was cold, almost detached. When he blocked Jet’s next strike, he knew it hadn’t been aimed to disarm. 

“Jet, stop!” Katara shouted, panic lacing her voice.

The steel of Jet’s sword, less than an inch from his neck, clanged loudly as Zuko blocked again. Fire surged just under his skin, but he pushed it down, managing to duck under another slash and knock one of Jet’s legs out from under him, sending him sprawling back.

“You’re just as bad as them,” he spat. “I thought you were different, but you’re just another ashmaker.” He was on his feet a moment later, and then there was a sharp sting as metal finally met skin. 

He heard Aang yell something, then Jet was thrown back into a tree with a blast of air. Katara’s next wave was huge, pinning the freedom fighter to a tree and freezing him still.  
When he touched his neck, he felt the sticky wetness of blood.

“Zuko!” Katara was in front of him, face stricken.

“It’s fine, it’s not deep,” he assured her, tearing a piece of fabric off his sleeve and pressing it to the cut. Yue would kill him for wrecking more of his clothes.

He turned to look at Jet. The murderous gleam was gone from his eyes. He just looked angry again, and tired. Zuko was tired too. Jet looked like the boy he had been when Zuko first talked to him about their pasts, and each other, and their futures.

“Think about it, Katara,” he insisted. “The Fire Nation killed your mother. They killed my family, and so many other people’s. Do you want to let them do that again? I thought you would understand. I thought Sokka would understand, but-“

Katara’s voice was suddenly very cold and very hard. “What did you do to my brother?”

Then an arrow arced past them, aflame. 

The village didn’t stand a chance.

———

“This was a victory!”

The anger flooding through him was cooler than usual, but it surged up through him all the same. 

“You killed all those people! You tried to kill Zuko!” Katara yelled, venomous.

“He was getting in the way!” Jet looked almost frenzied. He would be spitting sparks if he was a firebender. “I had to save the valley!”

“By killing everyone in it?” Furious tears were brimming in Katara’s eyes. Yue caught her by the shoulder, pulling her into a hug. She took a shaky breath, leaning into the other girl’s touch.

Zuko turned to Jet, but the blind hatred and fury in the freedom fighter’s eyes was gone. “You know I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t care!” Zuko snapped. “I can excuse you trying to kill me, but I draw the line at ecoterrorism!”

Yue frowned. “You can excuse him trying to kill you?”

There was something almost sad in Jet’s gaze, but it was laced with anger. “I thought you understood, before.”

“I understand doing bad things with good intentions, but what you’re trying to do is murder!”

Katara pulled back from Yue, face still streaked with tears. “I trusted you! You lied to me! You’re sick and I trusted you!”

“The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe.”

“It will be safe. Without you.”

Zuko could have cried with relief. Sokka.

•••

There was a sort of bitter satisfaction in seeing the shock on Jet’s face as Sokka arrived on Appa. Katara let out a delighted cry, running to him, but there were tears on her face. “You’re okay!”

“I got everyone out on time.” Sokka said, fixing Jet with a hard look. “They didn’t believe me at first, but someone vouched first me. The old man you attacked. We managed to evacuate everyone.”

“You’re a fool.” He spat. “We could have set this valley free.”

“No one would be free! They would all be dead!”

Jet almost snarled, but Sokka just grabbed Katara’s hand and helped her into the saddle, the others close behind. Zuko hesitated, and glanced back at Jet.

“You of all people should understand!” Jet urged. “You know what the Fire Nation is capable of!”

Zuko’s face morphed into a poisonous glare. “That village isn’t just tyrants and murderers. They’re innocent civilians - not everyone who just happens to be Fire Nation is evil. Jet, they’re just people. That village was full of families.”

Jet’s eyes narrowed. “You think ‘they’re families’ is an excuse? Your dad burned half your fucking face off and you still think family means they’re good?”

Everything seemed to freeze.

Even Jet’s eyes widened slightly, as if he hadn’t meant to say that.  
Sokka found himself staring at Zuko, and he was distantly aware that everyone else was too. 

Suddenly he couldn’t look away from the scar, trying to understand the words that wouldn’t seem to fit into place in his head. 

Zuko’s dad did that. 

Zuko’s dad scarred him for life.

A man burned his own son like that. It wasn’t even worth wondering if his own dad would do the same.

Zuko had gone pale, hand curled into fists at his sides, coiled tight with rage and the multitude of other emotions that flickered across his face. 

“Let’s go,” Sokka said quickly, just as Jet’s mouth opened to say something else. Zuko modded sharply.

“Come on Appa, yip yip.”

———

The town they landed next to was busy and bustling, but no one seemed willing to join in with the bright atmosphere. June led them to an inn, sliding a bag of coins across the desk wordlessly. 

“We could all use some good sleep,” she shrugged. “And they have a stable for Nyla.”

Staying at an inn was nice - warm beds, not waking up to a badgerfrog inches from your face and waking up the camp screaming, having a room to yourself. But as much as he wanted to enjoy the novelty, no one else seemed to have the same idea. There was still a thrum of tension to underlying everything. Katara had spent most of a the flight to the next town over staring down at the forest below, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. Sokka could see the guilt mixing with cold fury across her face.

When they reached their rooms, she shut herself in the room she would share with Yue. Aang quickly headed in to talk to her, only reappearing a few hours later to bring up food. 

Zuko hadn’t said much since they had left Jet’s forest, petting Druk almost absently, mind clearly elsewhere. Sokka didn’t have to guess what he was thinking about. 

The others wandered off throughout the afternoon, June to settle Nyla in, and Yue to buy some more supplies, taking Toph with her. Sokka found himself sitting next to Zuko on the veranda, watching the sun sink down in the sky.

The question bubbled up before he could stop it.

“Is it true? What he said?” Sokka asked, even though he knew he didn’t need to.

“Yeah.” Zuko’s voice was quiet, barely audible. He froze for a moment, hands stilling on Druk’s head until the little dragon looked up to nudge him back into motion.

“I’m sorry.” There wasn’t anything else he could think to say.

“It was a long time ago.”

A shaky laugh rose up unbidden. “That’s worse. You do see how that worse, right?”

Zuko gave a small shrug, turning slightly to look at him. “You want to know what happened.” It wasn’t a question.

Sokka nodded hesitantly. “You don’t have to tell me anything though. Obviously that’s like, not a very fun story.”

A smile flickered across Zuko’s face for a moment, then he looked tired and distant again. “Don’t tell Aang.”

It was an odd request, but Sokka just nodded and waited for him to continue.

“When I was twelve my uncle came back from a long trip. He was really the only family member who actually listened to me, so I would tell him basically anything. So...” he paused for a moment. “I told him about Vaatu. That he was a spirit and he made my bending better. Uncle was really interested in spirits, and I thought he’d think it was cool...”

“He didn’t,” Sokka guessed.

Zuko shook his head. “Yeah. He though Vaatu was evil, possessing me and all that. So he told my dad. And he told the Fire Sages, and they started doing exorcisms and rituals, but they couldn’t get rid of him. So my father-“ Zuko’s voice cracked a little, but whatever emotions he was feeling didn’t show on his face. “He decided to try himself. Said I was too weak to do it on my own, so he’d burn the spirit out of me.”

Bile rose up in Sokka’s throat, but somehow it got worse.

“He’d been looking for an excuse to kill me for years, after my mother stopped him the day I was born. It was really the perfect solution for him.”

“Fuck.” Sokka said softly. “I’m so sorry. What happened? To him, I mean. Is he...?”

“Dead? No.” Zuko said with a humourless laugh. “He’s doing great, last I heard. Vaatu tried to kill him, but I was too weak. We had to get away.”

“I’m glad you did.” He turned to look at Zuko, searching for something to say that could make anything about this at least a little better.

“Me too,” Zuko said. His gaze was still distant, turning to look at the setting sun. Sokka looked too. It was beautiful, staining the sky with pinks and purples.

“My sister still lives with him,” Zuko said after a moment, softly. “I left her when I got out. She’s fourteen now.”

He didn’t want to imagine what a man like Zuko’s father was capable of. Sokka put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the way heat seemed to radiate off him even through layers of fabric. “You didn’t have a choice.”

“When the Fire Lord is defeated, I’m going to find her. I just hope she’s... I hope she’s still the person she was when I left.”

There was something in those loaded words Sokka didn’t quite understand, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

“You know we’ll all do anything to help,” he promised, gently squeezing the firebender’s shoulder.

Zuko nodded, shifting almost imperceptibly closer. “I’ll talk to Aang about firebending training tomorrow. And I need to write some letters.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m on [tumblr at koiotic](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/), so follow me there for snippets, deleted scenes, updates and cool art and headcanons I find!


	11. The Not-So Great Divide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have opinions about the great divide episode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting twice in a few days to make up for my excessively long absence? In my fic? It’s more likely than you think

“Hey, look!” Aang called, “the Great Divide!”

“Fuck no,” June snapped back, “we did that shit last year, never again!”

  
~~Jk there’s actually more~~

———

_Dear Ty Lee,_

_Sorry for not writing in so long. I hope you’re doing well at the circus - where are you at the moment? I’ve met a few people who would love to come see your show. I also came across someone who can teach you those new acrobatics techniques you were interested in._

_Toph and Yue say hello, and June says ‘she better be dating Mai by now or I owe Toph so much money’. I haven’t told her you’ve been dating for three years, she owes me money too. If you guys play along, I’ll split it with you._

_Say hi to Mai for me._

_Love,_  
_Zuko_

_Dear Zuko,_

_You’re terrible at codes. We’re at Kideya village near Pohuai._  
_How much money are we talking?_

_See you soon,_  
_Mai_

———

_Crown Princess Azula, Master of the Cold Fire, Heir to the Dragon Throne, World’s Okayest Sister_

_Dear Azula,_

_I think this is officially letter number one hundred. I’m not sure if they’re being intercepted, or if you’re just not replying, but I hope you’re okay either way._

_I haven’t been able to get much news from Caldera, but I know you just turned fourteen. Happy birthday - I wish I could see you in person, but I hope this is okay. I’m not sure sending you a knife is the best idea, but with how Uncle Iroh’s doll went down, I figured it would be less likely to get burned._

_I can’t tell you where I am at the moment, but we passed by Ember Island a while ago. Do you still go there for your birthdays? The Ember Island Players were awful, but it was always nice to go see a play on your birthday. Do you still have the Dragon Emperor mask mother bought you? I saw a copy in the Earth Kingdom a while ago, but it wasn’t very good, and you’re probably too old for things like that now._  
_(I still have my Dark Water Spirit mask)_

_I love you,_  
_Zuko_

———

_Dear Zuzu,_

_That was the tackiest knife I’ve ever seen, and I’m convinced you know that. It’s absolutely hideous. My enemies would be ashamed to die by it, so I’m keeping it forever._

_Of course I’m too old to play with theatre costumes. I burned that mask years ago._

_I love you too,_  
_Azula_

Azula felt like a child again whenever Zuko’s letters arrived. Some nights she even lay awake waiting for the hawk to careen through her window, like it hadn’t done it so many times. She would crawl under her bed and read them by a carefully controlled flame, listening for any footsteps in the corridor outside. They were stupid, far too casual for the treason they were. 

Everyone knew Crown Prince Zuko was dead.

It felt like the secrets he used to trust her with. Sneaking out of the kitchens with mochi, or climbing up onto the rooftops in the middle of the night. Back before she realised the best way to make father happy was to push him off.

In the morning, she would hold the letter out of her window and watch it crumble to ash.

She looked up from her reply, perfectly neat calligraphy her tutors would marvel over if they saw it. She folded it carefully, and slid it into the nook behind the loose brick in her wall, with the ninety nine others - nestled next to her Dragon Emperor mask. Maybe one day he would read them. Maybe she would burn them on his funeral pyre, if he got one.

She slid the knife into her belt, perfected her topknot in the mirror and stepped out into the hall. She knew better than to be late for her father’s summons. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Azula time! Mai and Ty Lee time! Things are about to get not great time!
> 
> I’m on [tumblr at koiotic!](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/) Find me there for snippets, deleted scenes and cool reblogs of stuff I find


	12. A Kindling of Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip to the circus, which, as everything does, goes wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another longer chapter, I hope this makes up for the wait! 
> 
> As usual my health is bad and annoying so I’ll be updating as much as I can in the future!

Kideya Village was another day away after the detour, but Aang couldn’t make himself relax. There were other airbenders. There were more of his people out there, alive. He was practically buzzing with nervous energy, asking Zuko so many questions he was surprised he hadn’t been fireballed yet.

“What’s her name?”

“Ty Lee.”

“How do you know her?”

“She’s my sister’s friend.”

“What’s your sister like?”  
He regretted the question as soon as it left his mouth, pain flashing across Zuko’s face before his expression became unreadable.

“I haven’t seen her in three years. I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Aang wracked his brain for a change of subject. “How long have you known your friend was an airbender?”

“About six years.” Zuko said, some of the tension slipping away.

“How long has she known?” This was safe territory - and he had plenty more questions.

“She figured it out when she was around seven.”

“How did you find out?”

“She told me.”

“Why?”

“She saw me waterbending.”

“What’s she like?”

A wry smile appeared on Zuko’s face. “Imagine you, but with hair and even more energy.”

Sokka groaned, and Katara swatted him with the shirt she was mending.

“What’s she doing at the circus?”

“She’s an acrobat. She ran away to travel with them a few years ago.”

“Can we watch the show?”

“I think it would be harder to get out of watching the show.”

———

The circus was set up in a field outside the town, a collection of brightly coloured tents scattered around the land. They left Appa and Nyla in a nearby forest with their supplies, and walked down to the circus grounds. It took all of Aang’s willpower not to break into a run.

It was surprisingly quiet as they walked in, only a few people sitting around talking or practicing what must have been their acts. One man was leaned against a crate, breathing fire that twisted into the shape of a dragon like it was nothing. Any other day he would be begging for another demonstration.

They finally stopped at a small clearing, two girls glancing up at them. One was sat on the ground, polishing what looked to be a knife while watching her companion. She dressed in all black, with long black hair, a stark contrast to the other - wearing bright pink in practically every way possible. Even her long brown braid was tied with a pink ribbon.

She was upside down, balanced on her hands, but she lifted one to enthusiastically wave at them, not even disrupting her balance.

“Zuko!” She called, then flipped forward into an arch, bouncing back onto her feet and throwing her arms around him.

The girl in black raised her hand in silent greeting.

“Hi,” Zuko said with a smile. “Nice to see you again.”

When she let go, he turned to the rest of the group, and nodded to Aang. “This is Ty Lee, and Mai-“ he indicated to the girl in black.

The acrobat - Ty Lee - grinned widely and moved over to Aang, bowing. “It’s an honour to meet you, Avatar Aang.”

When she glanced up and met his eyes, they looked like stormy skies.

Ty Lee had grey eyes.

It was a simple thing, an unassuming fact, but the second he met her gaze, Aang burst into tears.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out after a moment, “it’s re- really nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” she said with a watery smile. “I’ve never met another airbender before.”

And then they were both crying, and she was hugging him, and the scent in her hair was so close to the cool wind at the Air Temples that he was crying harder.

Distantly, he could hear the others engaged in quiet conversation, but they left him and Ty Lee in their own little bubble. He was thankful for that, and that no one commented when he pulled back, caught sight of her eyes again and started sniffling anew.

“You... you have grey eyes.” He said in lieu of an explanation. “They look like- they’re like the... the other nomads.”

She gave a small nod, blinking tears out of her own eyes. “I’ve never seen anyone else with grey eyes,” she admitted. “Just me and my sisters.”

Something electrical ran through him at her words. “Are they airbenders too?”

“I don’t think so,” she said softly, “if they are, they haven’t told me. I’m sorry.”

“I’m just glad you’re here,” he said. “I thought I was the last one.”  
Tears welled up in his eyes again. “I thought I was the last airbender, but you’re here.”

She pulled him into another tight hug. “Me too. I felt like I was the only one in the world, and no one got it, but I’m not.”

There had been an aching loss in his chest since he first realised what had happened to the other Air Nomads. It was grief more powerful than he realised could exist - people had died, customs had died, language had died, culture had died. He had been the only living thing left in the wreckage of his people. He had been handed the burden of helping everything live on without anyone else to tell him how to do it.  
But Ty Lee was here, flesh and blood and freedom in front of him. It didn’t hurt less, or scare him less, but it did feel a little lighter. He wasn’t the last one, he wasn’t alone. The world still had people with his people’s spirits and bending, with their blood and history. The world still had Ty Lee, a nomad and an airbender.  
The world still had grey eyes.

•••

Mai led them into her and Ty Lee’s tent, leaving the two airbenders to talk outside. Sokka noted that she had put her knife away up her sleeve, briefly wondering how many she had on her. And judging by the table she had laid out in the corner absolutely covered with a multitude of blades, he guessed a lot.  
The tent was sparsely decorated, with a sleeping mat, chests of clothes and other possessions scattered around - most being either bright pink or black. He was sensing a clash of interior design decisions. The floor was bare earth, mostly covered with rugs and mats.

“It’s nice to see you guys again.” Mai said, gesturing for them to sit down on one of the cushions piled on the floor. Toph ignored them, earthbending her own chair despite Yue’s muttered admonishment.  
Mai’s gaze was impassive as she regarded them, though that seemed to be a regular thing. She pulled a tea set from one of the chests with some clay cups.

“You must be Sokka and Katara,” she said, passing them cups. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Good things?” Sokka asked hopefully. Mai’s expression was unreadable. Was he imagining the amusement in her eyes?

“Thank you for coming here with Avatar Aang,” she said, with a trace of a smile. “Ty Lee hasn’t been this happy since my aura turned pink.”

Before Sokka could ask what in La’s name that meant, Zuko said - “your aura’s pink now? Doesn’t that go against your whole thing?”

“You’re just jealous yours is such a dull grey.” Mai said dryly, then shoved the teapot at him. “Heat this up for me.”

“So how’s life at the circus?” Yue asked.

“A lot nicer than I expected,” Mai said. “Ty Lee and I are much happier here. And they let me throw knives at whatever I want.”

Sokka made a mental note never to cross her.

“Anyway,” she continued, “what have you guys been doing?”

“Well,” Toph said, “how much time do you have?”

———

“- so Zuko cursed out Agni-“

———

“- the stone exploded, so now I have a dragon-“

———

“- and then Jet tried to talk us into ecoterrorism-“

———

“Huh.” Mai said when the finished. “Somehow I’m not surprised.”

•••

It was almost sunset when Aang and Ty Lee reappeared, red eyed but happy. Ty Lee bounded over to Mai, curling into her side and Aang sat next to Katara.

“Everything okay?” She asked softly.

He nodded enthusiastically, giving her a huge smile. “It’s great. It’s so great.”

“I’m really happy for you,” she said, taking his hand and squeezing. “I know how hard it was when you found out what happened. Feeling like you’re the last one... I’m glad you found her.”

And she hadn’t lost her entire culture and all her people, but she knew what it was to feel alone. The only bender in the village, in the whole South Pole. Losing so many people she had grown up with because they were Water Tribe, losing fragments of history with each of them. The loss stung, but the feeling of incompleteness just ached. Katara wondered how many traditions had been lost because the person who remembered them was gone.  
How many would she never know existed?

But Aang finding Ty Lee sparked something warm in her. He wouldn’t lose his history, and she would protect hers.

She glanced over to Mai and Ty Lee, already wrapped up in their own little bubble like no one else existed. There was a tender smile on Mai’s lips as Ty Lee talked, and an invisible pull between them, like they instinctively gravitated towards each other. 

“So,” June said suddenly, “was anyone going to tell me they were dating or was I just supposed to find out Toph owes me twenty copper by myself?”

•••

‘The winds are changing, vessel.’

“Are you this vague because you have to be or is it just to be difficult?”

‘I cannot twist the future, only warn you that the road is not as it seems.’

“What do you mean?”

‘There are murmurs amongst the spirits. Two diverging paths are meeting again, and those who walk the roads cannot separate them.’

“Is that a good or a bad thing?”

‘It is a kindling of balance and a spark of chaos.’

———

Later that evening, looking down at the circus grounds from the top of the hill was almost mesmerising. Colourful lights and bustling crowds as the audience arrived, but dimmed and muted by the distance. It almost reminded Zuko of festivals in the Fire Nation, sitting and watching from the sidelines with his mother and Azula, because father insisted it was unbecoming to mingle with the common people. Most years, he would sneak away with Azula while their mother pretended not to notice, and hide away with her and a bag of smuggled fire flakes on the edge of the crowds. 

One hundred letters. He started composing the next in his head. It was dangerous, probably stupidly so - they were probably intercepted by the Fire Lord or at least passed on to him by Azula, but he liked to think she read them first. He wondered if she had come to see Mai and Ty Lee yet, or if she ever would. Father would say the circus is far beneath a princess, and she rarely challenged him. She had always been a lot smarter than Zuko.

There was a small tremor through the earth beneath him, buzzing through his palms as he leaned back on them. He glanced down the hill, and Katara gave him a small wave as she approached.

“Hey,” she said, sitting down next to him with a small smile. “I just wanted to thank you for bringing Aang here. Meeting Ty Lee means so much to him.”

“No problem,” Zuko shrugged, trying not to look embarrassed, probably failing. “It was- I did it for Ty Lee too. I promised to find her a teacher a while ago. And Aang deserved to know. I mean, he lost everything and I can’t get it back, but I can try to help.”

Zuko was terrible at two things: dealing with people being nice to him, and dealing with people showing physical affection (Toph didn’t count). Katara managed to check both boxes when she hugged him, saying “I’m so thankful for you doing this, for both of them.”

He tried to hug her back. Judging by the half amused look on her face when she pulled back, it had been about as awkward as he had felt. “You’re going to have to get used to hugs if you’re spending any time with Aang and me.”

“Well at least Sokka hasn’t tried yet.”

“Yet,” she said with a worryingly sly grin.

He turned to stare back at the circus, feeling his face heat up. Katara laughed quietly, but mercifully changed the subject. “Aang is really happy. He’s taking Ty Lee for a bending lesson in the morning. He said he’s happy for you to come too, unless you’re still set on learning from Sifu Appa.”

“I know you’re making fun of me, but I stand by that.”

“I seriously can’t tell if you’re messing with us.”

“And you never will.”

She laughed again, then turned to him, a little more serious. “When Aang came out of the iceberg, he thought he and Appa were the only things left of the Air Nomads. Then we found Momo, but he was still the only airbender. I know what it’s like to feel like you’re the only link to bending and a huge part of your culture left.”

She glanced down, and gently touched the pendant around her neck - a blue ribbon with a small pendant. “I’m the last bender in the Southern Water Tribe. The Fire Nation took all the others, and my mother too.”

Guilt reared up in his stomach. “I’m so sorry, Katara.”

“It’s not like it’s your fault,” she said with a small but kind smile, that sent another pang through him. “We were both children when it happened.”

“My family and my nation did that to yours.”

She met his eyes. “You’re a lot like Aang. You’re both really good at blaming yourselves for things you can’t control.”

“I think that’s the nicest backhanded compliment I’ve ever gotten.”

“My point is,” she continued, “that you gave Aang hope for bringing his people back. It reminds me that I can do the same for mine. Sokka and I are the next generation, and we can start fixing things.”

“I’d like to fix the Fire Nation one day.”

“If anyone can, I think it’s you.”

“I think my sister could, if she put her mind to it.” He glanced at Katara, wondering if Azula was anything like her. If she’d kept her fierce determination and single minded focus, that she thrived on like Katara. “She’s about the same age as you, and she’s a bending prodigy too.”

“A prodigy too?” 

“Katara, I’ve never seen anyone learn as fast as you. I think Yue’s ready to drop me as a student and take you on as her protégée.”

“Well I’m only bending one element.”

“I only bent fire for ten years and I almost made my tutors cry out of frustration. I think you’re a better firebender than me at this point.”

She laughed, grinning at him. “You know, I think you’ll make a great brother in law.”

Zuko choked on air so hard he fell halfway down the hill.

•••

The main tent was bustling, buzzing with activity, by the time the show started. Toph didn’t really get the appeal of tightrope walking. She’d heard walking plenty of times. And this time she couldn’t even hear it!

“She’s upside down now,” Yue whispered. “Walking on her hands - oh, then she did a flip.”

“Sounds riveting.” Toph deadpanned. “Tell me if she falls.”

June laughed as Yue lightly slapped her shoulder.

“I’m kidding, I’ll know if she falls.”

Toph liked Ty Lee, but acrobatics were much more interesting when she did them on the ground. Mai’s act was easier to sense, but it wasn’t like she could keep track of metal (note to self: invent metalbending).

June sounded highly impressed. “That’s some fancy knife work. Can you believe Zuko almost married her?”

Feeling Sokka’s heart skyrocket as he choked on fire flakes was the best part of the show.

•••

The next morning, Sokka found himself sitting watching airbending lessons, then getting bored and watching Zuko meditate. Naturally, it was purely in the name of research. His previous sample size of one avatar was too small.

Thankfully, Zuko was not on fire this time. He sat cross legged with a small flame cupped in his palms, head tilted slightly back as he faced the sun. His hair looked so shiny Sokka had to assume it was a magical avatar perk Aang was missing out on.

Zuko cracked an eye open. “Just because I have my eyes closed doesn’t mean Vaatu isn’t telling me you’re staring at me.”

Sokka was glad his skin was dark enough to hide most blushes.

“Wait, Vaatu’s a snitch?”

Zuko valiantly tried to look unimpressed, but the corner of his mouth quirked up. “I know more than I could ever want to about everyone.”

“Huh, that’s horrifying.”

“Don’t worry, he hasn’t given me an exhaustive list of every girl you’ve tried to flirt with yet.”

“Speaking of girls,” Sokka said, very completely casually, “you and Mai?”

“No?” Zuko said, eyebrow shooting up.

Sokka blinked. “But June- she said- you, um, almost married her?”  
His voice went a lot higher than he was willing to admit at the end of the sentence.

“It was going to be an arranged marriage,” Zuko shrugged. “We’re just both a lot gayer than our parents expected us to be.”

Sokka’s brain filed that comment away for another day. “So she was part of fancy high society too?”

“Yeah, her and Ty Lee. They met at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls.”

“So there’s more scary Fire Nation ladies out there?”

“Just hope you never meet and upset my sister.”

———

The others arrived as the morning stretched on, Yue and Katara running through more advanced waterbending while Toph amused herself by earthbending unflattering statues of Sokka.

“My ears are not that big!” He called indignantly.

“Earth sense says otherwise, Snoozles.”

“Bu- but you’re blind!”

“I see the truth.”

“I think it looks great,” Zuko supplied, then swiftly blocked as Toph flung rock-Sokka’s head at him.

“Hey, that’s my head!”

“If I recall correctly, you’re the one who still owes me a statue.”

“You’re forgiven, please don’t make me do that.”

Toph turned, flattening rock-Sokka. “Yeah, I should probably do my own unless I want a slightly chipped chunk of stone.”

“You don’t think I could carve a statue?”

“I don’t think you could hit a rock without breaking your arm.”

“I’ll show you!”

Katara and Yue’s lesson quickly switched tracks to waterbending healing. Mai showed up just in time for Sokka to learn that someone could could make polishing knives look condescending.

“What happened?” She asked. “Did Sokka flex his muscles too hard?”

Toph opened her mouth to say something, but stopped.

“Someone’s coming,” Toph said suddenly. “Actually, a lot of someones.”

Mai frowned. “The audience for the midday show shouldn’t be showing up for another few hours.”

Aang jumped up on top of one of the tents, scanning the horizon. “It’s not the audience,” he said slowly. “It’s like... a procession. There’s these big fancy banners.”

Ty Lee, Mai and Zuko all froze at the same time. “Azula.” Ty Lee said quietly.

“Can you see anything else?” Mai asked, urgency seeping into her still collected tone.

“Uh, there’s a palanquin,” Aang said. “And Fire Nation soldiers. Should we run?” He glanced down at them nervously.

Mai shook her head, turning to Ty Lee and grabbing her hand. “Azula’s probably here for us. The rest of you should hide, and get out as soon as you can.”

“We’re not leaving,” Zuko insisted.

“Then don’t,” Mai said. “But get to your bison, don’t let her find you here.”

They were ushered into the tent, Mai sweeping the door flaps shut sharply. Outside, footsteps approached, coming to a halt all together.

“Azula!” Ty Lee called brightly, as a singular person approached.

“Mai, Ty Lee,” a new voice, young but sharp, said. “I’ve come to ask for your assistance.”

•••

Her aura was black. It was the first thing Ty Lee noticed, the stormy, cloudy haze that hung around her. Azula hadn’t changed much since they had last met, but her aura had always been a dusky blue. 

“Azula! It’s so great to see you!” Ty Lee bowed, probably not as long as was appropriate, but Azula didn’t complain when Ty Lee hugged her tightly, even hugging her back.

She smiled when she pulled back, sharp as ever. “How has life at the circus been?”  
Ty Lee elected to ignore the trace of disdain.

“It’s wonderful! I’ve never been happier, and it’s doing wonders for my aura!”

“How lovely,” Azula said, eyebrow quirking minutely. “Mai? How are you enjoying it?”

Mai shrugged. “It’s actually a lot nicer than I was expecting, even if I do have to sleep in a tent.”

Azula smiled, with a flash of genuine amusement that made her look like a little girl again. “That’s certainly high praise from you.”

“I get paid to play with knives,” Mai said. “Who wouldn’t love it? Anyway, what brings you here? I doubt you’re signing up your own act.”

Azula’s answering smile was fiercer, the one she wore when she knew she had something to lose. “A mission from my father. I need a small, elite team of people I can trust, and that is you two.”

There was a threat entwined in her words somewhere, and a request that was dangerous to deny, but Ty Lee felt herself grinning and buzzing with happiness anyway. “Azula, I’m so happy you trust us that much!”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’,” she said evenly.

“But... I’ve found my calling here, and I can’t speak for Mai, but I know she’s happy here too.”

“I am,” Mai said, but when she looked at Azula it was softly. “We left high society for a reason.”

The shift in Azula’s aura was almost imperceptible. She gave them a smile, one Ty Lee recognised from the few times she had seen Azula with the Fire Lord. “Of course, I understand. But while I’m here, I would love to watch your show.”

———

In two years at the circus, in fourteen years of acrobatics and gymnastics, Ty Lee had never fallen. There was a fine line between showing off and taking risks, and she hadn’t crossed it since she was eight and impulsive and eager to prove herself. Ty Lee was an expert of finding fine lines and flipping across them.

Azula wouldn’t let her get hurt badly, but that didn’t mean the fire underneath her was in any way reassuring.

When she glanced down, Mai was frowning, balancing a knife on her finger thoughtfully as Azula said something to her. Ty Lee didn’t have to hear it to guess.

Mai met her eyes, and tossed her blade up, catching it in her hand. Ty Lee gave her a tiny nod as she shifted her balance, getting back onto two feet as the first knife flew. It was centimetres from her face, but Ty Lee didn’t doubt for a second that Mai wouldn’t hit her. Mai knew her routine as well as she did, and watching the blades glint and reflect the torchlight was almost pretty.  
If it hadn’t been an intimidation tactic, Azula’s methods might have actually been an interesting idea.

At least by the time she reached the ground, the fires were out. The ringmaster was giving her a look somewhere between apologetic and terrified; Azula stood beside him, entertained but calculating. “That was certainly an interesting show.”

•••

“We’re going with her,” Mai said as soon as they were alone in their tent, pulling Ty Lee onto their bench beside her. Azula was dangerous, but only to her enemies. Mai knew better than most how easy it was to shift from ally to enemy.

The others were gone, but Mai doubted they had gone far or for very long.

“I guess we should start packing then,” Ty Lee said, but her smile was small and tense. Mai caught her hand before she could turn to the mirror, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Once we finish the mission with her, we can come back and find your teacher again.”

She picked up a cloth from the table, cupping Ty Lee’s face as she started wiping off her makeup. “Between the three of us,” she continued, “no mission should take too long.”

“I love you,” Ty Lee said quietly, tugging her closer for a kiss. 

“I love you too,” Mai murmured against her lips, pulling back and pressing their foreheads together. “We’ll figure it out.”

She pulled back quickly, passing the cloth to Ty Lee as the tent flap opened and Azula stepped in. “Congratulations on your show,” she said. “It was quite thrilling.”

“Azula,” Ty Lee said brightly, turning to her, “Mai and I have decided to join you.”

“Oh?” The smile on Azula’s lips was practiced, but Mai noticed the way her posture minutely loosened. Relief - she really wanted them with her. “What made you change your mind? I thought the circus was your calling.”

Ty Lee shrugged, with a light giggle. “I guess you called a little louder.”

“So what are we doing?”

“We’re going to capture the avatar.”

•••

Katara could see the tension practically radiating off Zuko as they walked back to camp, and Appa and Nyla.

“Who was she?” She asked carefully when they stopped.

Zuko somehow tensed even further, arms crossed almost defensively. “That was my sister.”

“She said she had a mission from her father,” Sokka said.

“Yeah,” Zuko said, a little hollowly. “She- that’s not good.”

Toph silently grabbed his arm, pulling him into a hug. Katara didn’t need confirmation of what Jet had said to know it was true, and what kind of man Zuko’s father was.

“Maybe we could talk with her?” Katara suggested. “Maybe she’ll come with us?”

Zuko glanced at Yue, an unreadable look exchanged between them. The waterbender gave a small nod. Zuko sighed, gaze locked on the ground.

“She’s also Princess Azula of the Fire Nation.”

“But how is your sister a princess? That makes no sense,” Sokka protested. “It’s not like your dad is the Fire Lord.”

Zuko didn’t meet his eyes. Toph didn’t move from his side, but her feet shifted, ready to attack - or defend.

“Your dad is the Fire Lord.” Katara said slowly. 

“So technically,” Sokka said, sounding like he didn’t quite believe his own words, “you’re Fire Nation royalty?”

“Well legally, I’m dead, so no.”

“Dude, what the fuck?”

“It’s a really long story, a guy sent pirates to blow up a ship I was on. And-“ his voice cracked “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I have no idea how the fuck to bring that up in casual conversation.”

Katara laughed, shakily, despite herself. Zuko finally looked up, meeting her disbelieving gaze. “I’m sorry.”

Her head was still spinning. “That’s why you said it was your family that attacked the Water Tribe.”

Zuko flinched. “I know they did terrible things, I know I’m a part of that, I’m sorry.”

“Wait,” Sokka said, “that means the Fire Lord did tha-“ he stopped, staring at Zuko. The firebender - the prince of the Fire Nation - gave a small nod.

“Fuck.” Sokka said. 

“Yeah,” Zuko said. “That’s pretty much the general reaction.”

Katara was still trying to piece her thoughts together. Zuko was the son of the Fire Lord. A Prince. The son of the man who killed her mother, who sent Zhao to hunt them, who tore the world apart. But he’d burned Zuko, he was probably the one who banished him. Zuko wasn’t evil. That much she didn’t doubt, he’d brought Aang to Ty Lee, fought Jet for them, taught firebending and faced the dragons.

She knew him. She thought she knew him. No, she did - she had ever since-

“Vaatu said the Fire Lord tried to kill you three times.” That first conversation came back suddenly.

“Yeah,” Zuko sighed, “he wasn’t a great dad.”

Another shocked laugh tore out of her. “I think that takes him past the point of ‘not great’.”

He looked at her tentatively, with a shadow of a tired smile. “I’m sorry.”

When she hugged him, he seemed even more shocked than the first time. “Your family isn’t your fault.”

“Hey,” Sokka cut in, “this is touching and all, but can I hug him too? You’re kinda hogging the emotional expressions of friendship.”

“Actually this is meant to be an apology,” Zuko said, but failed to get out of Katara’s grip. “I pretty much lied to you guys for like, several weeks.”

“Omission isn’t lying, it’s just casual deception,” Sokka shrugged, successfully preventing any further attempts to leave the hug by joining in.

“That’s still bad,” Zuko protested as Aang managed to wiggle under Katara’s arm, “and I’m sorry.”

Toph muttered something fully muffled by the several people around her.

“This is great,” June said from somewhere outside the circle. “This has to be the least successful self destructive spiral Zuko’s ever had. I can’t believe he failed at being stupid.”

“June, get in here,” Yue ordered.

“Yeesh, okay princess.”

Katara groaned. “Too soon for that joke.”

“What joke?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Azula but she’s about to make some less than stellar decisions 
> 
> I’m on [tumblr at koiotic!](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/) Find me there for snippets, deleted scenes and cool reblogs of stuff I find


	13. A Spark of Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! Thank you all so much for the lovely comments, and sorry if I don’t get back to you. But they all mean the world to me and I love you guys

“If anyone else is secretly royalty, now would be a great time to tell us.”

“Well Toph’s a Beifong. Does that count?”

“What’s a Beifong?”

“It means I’m better than you in every way imaginable.”

•••

“How many children of high society have you guys abducted?”

“Only, like, nine.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Of course I am. It’s only been eight at this point.”

“June!”

“Three. But I’m pretty sure it’s about to get higher.”

•••

Azula wasn’t stupid. The surprising thing, however, was Mai and Ty Lee assuming she was. They were subtle, yes, but not subtle enough. It didn’t take a genius to see the way Mai’s eyes softened when she looked at Ty Lee, or how Ty Lee was just a little more affectionate than usual with Mai.  
A tiny part of her was hurt. The weak, soft part that still smuggled mochi from the kitchens on Zuko’s birthday, that wore mother’s ribbons in her hair. They were afraid of her, and how she would use the knowledge if they gave it to her. A well founded fear, she supposed.  
Fear was good. Fear meant they respected her. Fear meant she was in control.

She could use this, if it came down to it. She had tested it in the circus tent, pressed to see how far they would go, but it wasn’t enough information to come to a full conclusion. She needed to test them, so to speak, in fire.

They sat opposite her in the palanquin, Ty Lee chattering excitedly while Mai looked between them, impassive. She was still good at masking, but she’d slipped up a little in the years away from the Fire Nation. 

“So, Azula-“ Ty Lee was saying, “where are we going first? I mean, where would the avatar even go?”

“Probably somewhere spiritual,” Mai sighed. “How dull.”

“I suppose you’ll miss the excitement of the circus,” said Azula. “But rest assured, taking down the master of all four elements shouldn’t be boring.”

Ty Lee leaned forward to look at Azula. “How much do you know so far? Obviously you plan ahead, you’re so smart like that, so what advantages do we have?”

“The avatar is an Air Nomad,” Azula said, reeling off the reports she had received. “A master airbender who somehow survived our last attack. Male, young, probably between ten and fifteen. Zhao claims he was last seen with two Water Tribe children, a flying bison, and a very vicious lemur.”

“Lemurs aren’t vicious,” Ty Lee protested. “He probably did something to upset it.”

Mai raised an eyebrow. “That’s your takeaway from that?”

With a shrug, Azula said “I have to agree, Zhao is a moron. I doubt the lemur was unjustified.”

“How much of your information do you know is true?” Mai asked, ever astute.

“I have to take Zhao’s word on more things than I would like to, but we can verify all we need to know when we find him. A giant, assumed extinct flying bison shouldn’t be hard to find.”

“I bet they’re fluffy,” Ty Lee said a little dreamily.

Azula couldn’t help the tiny smile that crossed her face. “You can pet the bison when we capture the Avatar.”

———

The palanquin stopped, with the sound of gentle waves in the background. Good, the tides should be in their favour. The sooner they left, the better.

“I have good news for Ty Lee, bad news for me, and news Mai will be generally apathetic to.”

“Oh no,” Ty Lee said, but there was an undercurrent of anticipation.

Azula sighed as they ascended the gangplank, soldiers snapping to attention with haste. “”My uncle will be joining us.”

“Oh no,” Ty Lee said again, with a huge smile on her face.

The old man had commandeered a portion of her deck to set up his pai sho board, unaware or uncaring of the fact that asking every passerby to join him for a game was very inconvenient. Especially when most of the crew were hesitant to refuse the Dragon of the West, meaning more often than not, that dammed game meant hourlong delays while the quartermaster was being thoroughly defeated.

“Hello, niece!” He called cheerfully, as the boatswain scrambled up from opposite him to bow. “I see your lovely friends are joining us!”

Not rolling her eyes was difficult, but the most courtesy she would afford him.

“Hello, General Iroh!” Ty Lee said brightly, echoed with far less enthusiasm by Mai.

“Please, call me u-“

“Do not,” Azula interrupted, “call him uncle. You’ll only encourage him.”

She ignored his conspiratorial wink to Ty Lee.

“Would you care to join me for a game of pai sho?”

“We have more important matters to attend to,” Azula said, sweeping past him. Mai and Ty Lee fell into step just behind her like they had never left.

“I’d love to play later!” Ty Lee called over her shoulder, giving him an enthusiastic wave.

“I look forward to it!”

Azula let out an exasperated noise as soon as the door closed behind them. “Why do you like him so much?”

“He’s nice,” Ty Lee shrugged.

“He never set my hair on fire and made his brother tackle me into a fountain.” Mai deadpanned.

This time, Azula did roll her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, you didn’t even die.”

•••

“How worried should we be about Azula?” Katara asked as they started setting up camp. They had landed about a ten minute walk from a seafront town, settling Appa and Nyla down in a forest clearing while they pitched tents.

“That depends on what her plans are. But knowing my father, he’ll have sent her out for something related to Aang. I hate to admit it, but she’s the best shot the Fire Nation have at capturing him.”

“We should avoid her as much as possible,” Sokka said. “The best thing is to minimise the chances she gets to be near him. Plus Mai and Ty Lee are dangerous now too.”

“Would Mai and Ty Lee hurt us?” Aang asked, voice small and uncertain.

Zuko didn’t look at him, turning to help June set up her tent as a cold feeling seeped through him. “They don’t have a choice, if it comes to it. I know they don’t want to, but if Azula tells them to, they don’t really have the luxury of saying no.”

He didn’t want to think of her as the ruthless, powerful bender their father wanted her to be, but gnawing doubt and dread were closing in. Four years without seeing or hearing from her, four years she spent alone with only the Firelord’s influence. He didn’t know her anymore.

He was nudged out of those thoughts, literally, by Druk’s little red snout. The dragon poked insistently at his hands, before scaling his arm and digging needle sharp claws into his shoulder. 

“Stop brooding,” June said dryly next to him. “That thing imprinted on you, and if he starts brooding too, I’m drowning both of you.”

“I don’t brood,” Zuko snapped.

June didn’t dignify that with a response, rolling her eyes and wandering off.

Druk huffed quietly, poking at him instantly until he relented and scratched him behind his ears. Well, whatever he had that Zuko thought were ears. He really needed to find some scrolls on dragon biology.  
Druk had been steadily growing since he hatched, and was almost as long as Sokka was tall (which the Water Tribe warrior had insisted on demonstrating, lying down and spending almost an hour trying to stretch Druk out beside him). 

June had pointed out that the dragon was growing even faster than Nyla had, and Zuko wondered, with a little apprehension, just how big Druk would get. Hiding a ten foot, bright red, supposedly extinct creature would be much harder than shoving a tiny dragon down his shirt when he needed to. Not to mention, he was pretty sure Druk would start flying soon. He’d come to that revelation when Druk started trying to fling himself off any remotely tall surface he found himself on.

Sure, the dragons were ancient firebending masters, but so far, Druk was pretty much an owl kitten with scales.

‘You know,’ Vaatu commented, ‘this is a lot like when you were an infant.’

A thought struck him as Druk blinked up at him. A theory he needed to test.

“I don’t think you can compare spiritual possession to raising dragons,” Zuko said out loud, before realising that made him look insane and everyone was staring at him. “I was talking to Vaatu!” He said quickly.

“Just so you know, you sound like a crazy person when you do that.”

“Thanks, Sokka.”

He scooped up Druk, now rolling around on the ground clearly wanting his belly rubbed, and slung his small bag over his shoulder. “I’m going to go work on something with Druk, I’ll be back later.”

“We know the drill,” June called. “We declare you dead after three days if you don’t come back.”

•••

“You-“ June gestured to Sokka. “Boomerang kid, come with me.”

“Wha- what?” Sokka sputtered. “You know my name! You know my name is Sokka!”

“Shut up and hurry up, socky.”

She thrust the coin pouch at him, striding off ahead, leaving him to jog to catch up. “What’s this for?”

“We’re going shopping.”

Sokka managed to hold back an excited noise. June still threw him a truly withering look over her shoulder. “Don’t look at me like that,” she ordered. “I picked you because the others are impossible to shop with.”

“Wait, really?”

“Ugh, you wouldn’t believe it. Yue takes hours to finish up, because she spends at least ten minutes comparing all the mangoes at the stall to find the best one. Zuko swings wildly between impulse purchases and Yue mode. And Toph is, fundamentally, a rich kid.”

“Toph? Really?”

“She once said to me, and I quote, ‘how much can a papaya cost? Like, ten silver?’”

“Huh.” There was a smile growing on his face. “So you think I’m better than Toph at this?”

June let out a sharp laugh. “No, I just know I can bully you into doing what I say.”

“You know, I reckon you’re secretly a big softie, and you like me.”

“Prove it, asshole,” June scoffed, yanking him towards a stall by the wrist.

The vendor frowned, like their existence personally offended him, but turned to another customer as June inspected the fruit.

“I’ve seen you with Nyla,” Sokka pointed out as she gathered up a few mangoes. “You’re a total sap. And you’re way nicer than you pretend to be. I bet you secretly like poetry.”

“You know, kid, everyone else who has ever accused me of liking poetry is dead.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

“And you never will,” she shrugged, flagging down the vendor and tossing him a handful of coins before setting off down the street. “By the way, I don’t even need to theorise to know you’re the biggest fucking nerd I’ve ever met.”

“Nerd?” Sokka demanded, only half faking his indignation.

“Call yourself a warrior all you want, I’ve seen you geeking out over every sword we pass.” She smirked as she handed him the fruit.

“Swords are not nerdy! Swords are cool! Zuko has swords- wait, ignore that one.”

She laughed. “Zuko is a theatre nerd who can recite Love Amongst the Dragons from memory, that was not a good point.”

“Jet had swords-“

“You really wanna make that argument?”

“Point taken.”

Half an hour later, true to her word, June had bullied him into doing whatever she wanted. In this case, balancing an armful of purchases and desperately trying not to drop any of them. She looked him dead in the eyes as she dropped a bag of spices onto his head. “Good luck.”

“You could very easily carry some of these.”

“I know, but I never said I was a good person.”

“I still don’t believe you.”

“If you accuse me of being nice again, I’m buying an ostrich horse and making you carry it.”

“Why didn’t you just bring Nyla to do this? Oh wait, I know, it’s because you’re a softie and you don’t want to make him do things.”

“Nyla’s been stuck listening to you talk for a week, I figured he deserved a break.”

“Because you actually care about him and all of us, Junie.”

And then a hard look crossed her face, and Sokka felt like he’d crossed a boundary he didn’t know existed. “No one calls me Junie,” she said sharply, but not unkindly.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t-“

“Drop it, kid. Anyway, you’re one to talk, ‘Snoozles’.”

Her teasing tone was back, and Sokka couldn’t say he wasn’t relieved. 

“That’s on Toph, not me!”

“She sees the truth.”

“She’s blind!”

“And yet you’re the blindest person I’ve met.”

•••

When they first docked at a small port town, Azula had intended to stay on the ship and review their maps and plans. She had forgotten, apparently, how skilled her uncle was at wasting time. He knocked on her door not twenty minutes after they dropped anchor, giving her a bright smile that didn’t appear to work on anyone but Ty Lee.

“Ah, niece, would you be willing to join me on a walk around town? I’ve heard great things about the market here.”

“No,” Azula said, not glancing up from her table. “We have more important things to do.”

“Can we go?” Ty Lee asked, ducking down to be in Azula’s line of vision. “Mai needs new knives, and I’m sure restocking is-“

“You can just say you want to look at shiny things, Ty Lee.”

“We could try getting some more information,” Mai suggested from her place leaned against the cabin wall, idly playing with her knives. “Word of mouth travels fast. Your sources might not be caught up.”

Azula held back a sigh, rolling up her map and standing, staring her uncle hard in the eye. “We will join you, but if your little pleasure trip gets in the way of my plans, we will leave you behind.”

“How lovely,” he said pleasantly, as Ty Lee bounded over to Azula and hugged her tightly. Azula didn’t break eye contact with her uncle. “There are some local tea blends I’ve been meaning to try.”

She made a mental note to give him the slip and leave him at the first stall they came across. His inane chatter continued, unfortunately encouraged by Ty Lee, as she pulled on her armour and they headed out. She shared a glance with Mai. She could always count on her to be just as unimpressed as Azula was.

She quickly dismissed the guards who hurried to join them; they didn’t need any extra attention on potential liabilities. People still startled and stared as they entered the marketplace, but they didn’t run like they would from a horde of soldiers. They needed to intimidate people, not scare them off.

With a subtle nod to Mai and Ty Lee, they managed to leave Uncle Iroh at a stall selling truly awful knickknacks. Unfortunately, it looked like he was quite taken by an atrociously gaudy statue of a monkey. If he bought it, she would have to throw it overboard as soon as his back was turned.

“So how are we doing this?” Mai asked as they stepped down a less busy street, already sounding incredibly bored.

“We don’t need to bother with everyone, let’s be efficient,” Azula decided. “Stop anyone who looks like they travel. There haven’t been any avatar sightings here, so pick out people who will have outside sources of information.”

Mai flicked her wrist, dropping a knife into her hand. “Are we playing nice or doing this the interesting way?”

She felt herself smiling. “That’s up to you.”

———

Ty Lee noticed the boy in Water Tribe blue first. Azula saw the way her eyes widened slightly as they skimmed over the crowd, and picked him out a second later.

“Water Tribe,” she said quietly, as Mai and Ty Lee snapped to look at her. “Young, too. Let’s follow him.”

Hoping this random peasant was the Avatar’s Water Tribe companion was a stretch, but she was nothing if not thorough. Even if he was unimportant, interrogating him later couldn’t hurt.

Her companions exchanged a look, and Azula turned to see Ty Lee looking hesitant. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt him unless he gives me a reason to.”

When she turned back, the boy was halfway down the street, talking to a young woman. She was tall, dressed in all black with dark hair - most likely Earth Kingdom, and not a person of interest from Azula’s sources. They appeared to be together, though, the boy carrying an armful of what appeared to be her shopping.

Espionage was far more boring than the plays and scrolls made it out to be. It was almost another hour before the two headed out of the marketplace, and Mai’s frustrated groaning was getting more frequent.

“Finally,” she muttered, as Azula grabbed her and Ty Lee by the wrists and pulled them to the side of the street. The crowds were thinning, they needed to avoid catching the pair’s attention.

They were so oblivious Azula almost felt sorry for them. Deep in conversation, apparently, laughing and joking as the trio trailed them into the forest. A nearby camp, most likely. Isolated, too. This would make for an easy interrogation.

“We’re back, assholes,” the woman called as they stepped into a clearing. Azula pulled her companions down behind some foliage, scanning the ramshackle campsite.

Another Water Tribe girl sat next to a fire pit, stirring a steaming pot. Next to her were two more girls, one looking a lot younger than the others. Her older companion notably had stark white hair, but also tan skin. Water Tribe, but dressed in neutral blacks and greys. The young girl was in green, laying on her back with her bare feet in the second girl’s lap.

Mostly children and teenagers, not much of a threat if it came down to it. The woman was armed with what looked like knives in her belt and a whip, but the others didn’t seem to be. Possibly benders, but likely too young to be masters.

And then another figure appeared through the trees on the opposite side of the clearing, and Azula’s heart stopped for a split second.  
Young, bald, and with blue arrow tattoos on his head and hands. Dressed in yellow and orange monk robes.  
Ty Lee stifled a gasp beside her.

“Avatar,” Azula breathed. 

This was far easier than she had expected. 

“I found berries!” The Avatar said excitedly, brandishing a small pouch.

“Good,” the woman shrugged, “because we’re pretty much broke for now, and this will only last us a few weeks.”

The Water Tribe boy moved to put down the supplies, and Azula noticed with a start that what she had thought was a large tent moved. The mass of white striped with brown turned, revealing a horned head. The Avatar’s sky bison.

She turned to Mai and Ty Lee, gesturing for them to follow as she inched closer. They seemed reluctant, but moved after her anyway. “He’s a child,” Azula murmured. “This won’t be difficult, don’t worry.”

She stepped out, poised to strike before any of them could even react. The Water Tribe boy drew a boomerang as the older girls got to their feet and shifted into bending stances. Waterbenders, probably. The little girl was a second behind them, and Azula was almost surprised to see her pale, blank eyes.

The Avatar was travelling with a young, blind girl?

“Apologies for the interruption,” she said calmly, keeping a loose but definite stance. “I was hoping you could help me with something.”

“You’re Azula!” The Water Tribe boy exclaimed

She frowned, but didn’t set him on fire. She would let it slide once. “I see my reputation precedes me. But that’s Princess Azula to you, peasant.”

The Avatar and his companions looked shocked, but didn’t strike. That was useful, if a little pathetic.

“Avatar,” Azula said, eyes narrowing - but she didn’t attack, not yet.

The boy blinked. “Um... hi?”

“I don’t suppose you’ll willingly come with me?”

“No, sorry.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” she smiled. “This way is much more fun.”

She lunged before he could fully react, sending an arc of searing blue fire that he barely managed to dodge. He yelped and leaped back, catching himself on a gust of air before he hit the ground.  
Trained airbender. Good to know.

The others snapped into motion, but not before Azula’s sharp nod had Mai and Ty Lee on the offensive. She noted with some displeasure that they weren’t on top of their game - years of using their skills as sideshow attractions seemed to have worn them down. But Mai still managed to knock the boomerang out of the air, and Ty Lee put one of the white haired waterbender’s arms out of commission. 

The benders proved to be a considerable force to fight against, striking and defending with admirable synchrony. The blind girl proved to be an earthbender, and an adept one at that. She sent the ground shaking with a twist of her heel, almost knocking Azula off balance.  
Almost.  
She wouldn’t let something as trivial as that pose a threat. As rock erupted below her, she used it to jump, kicking out a whirl of fire that pushed the earthbender back and knocked the Water Tribe girl off her feet. Azula ducked under the other waterbender’s flurry of ice, catching sight of the Avatar.

He and the two presumed nonbenders were by the bison, throwing supplies into the saddle in a scramble to escape. With another surge of blue flames, she drove the benders back again and rushed towards the Avatar. 

“Aang!” Someone yelled, and he turned just in time to avoid her fire blast.

Azula struck again, missing by inches as he continued to avoid and evade. Apparently Zhao’s reports had been right about something: the Avatar rarely did anything but run.

He was so young she almost felt sorry for him. Any weaker person would have.

•••

The first sound Zuko recognised was the roar of fire. The seconds was Azula’s voice.  
The third was “get back here, avatar!”

Druk froze in midair, which included his wings, which confirmed Zuko’s theory that he didn’t have the ancient wisdom of the dragons yet. He reached out to catch Druk before scrambling over to his bag.  
Azula was here. Azula was here, and attacking Aang. 

The Blue Spirit mask was at the bottom of his bag, unused since they left Nuzisu. There was a good chance Azula would recognise it, but he could hope she had forgotten. At least, he was fairly sure she hadn’t been reading his letters.  
She would almost certainly figure out who he was at some point, but if she was attacking them, it would be best to delay that for as long as possible.

Druk made a soft noise between a chirrup and a trill.

“Sorry about this,” Zuko muttered, before shoving him into the bag as gently as possible, slinging it over his back and running into the clearing.

Their impromptu camp was in complete disarray, with far more fire than was ideal. Part of him was quietly impressed that she’d finally perfected blue flames. The rest of him was more loudly terrified.

He drew his swords, taking note of Aang, June and Sokka trying to keep Azula away from Nyla while Yue, Katara and Toph held back half hearted attacks from Mai and Ty Lee. Ty Lee actually gave him a small thumbs up as she jumped over a water whip.

Azula had grown up so much.  
She was probably as tall as Katara, fierce and confident, very clearly no longer the little ten year old he sometimes pictured her as. When he ran at her, trying to sweep her feet out from under her to buy them time, she turned and her eyes blazed a familiar gold.

She frowned, irritated - and suddenly she was eight again, glaring as he swiped chinsuko off her plate.

If this turned bad, he couldn’t hurt her.

He ducked under a blast of blue fire, striking back with a slash of steel he knew wouldn’t make contact. She still fought with a ferocity that impressed and scared her tutors. He wondered how many still worked with her, or if she had already outperformed them all like she’d promised she would.

Katara yelled something behind him, and then twin waves of water and ice sent Azula flying a good few metres back, stumbling but not falling. Thick steam rose where her flames had been. It was a split second advantage, but it was enough. Aang was on Appa’s head a moment later, and Sokka was pulling him up as Yue sent Mai and Ty Lee back into the undergrowth with two well placed bolts of ice, before pulling Katara with her into the saddle.

At Aang’s command, Appa rose into the air with a groan, sending Azula back a few paces again as his tail sent out a rush of air. He glanced down, catching sight of her one last time as she fired a parting shot. In a quick motion he dispersed it, dissolving blue fire into empty air.

The last thing he saw was her glare, thunderous and vicious. He wondered what his little sister had become.

•••

“Your sister is scary.” Aang said. “Like, really scary.”

They landed after almost an hour of flying, setting up camp at another seaside town as the sun began to dip in the sky.

“Yeah,” Zuko said, but he looked more sad than anything else. Then a look of determination set on his face. “Firebending lesson two. There’s a few things you need to know.”

Aang perked up a little. “Are we throwing fire now?”

“Sort of.”

They found a plane area next to the river, far enough from their impromptu camp to minimise fire damage if need be. The look Zuko gave him was almost fiercely intense.

“The first thing you need to know is how to defend against firebending. The one thing I know for sure about Azula is that she won’t give up, and she’ll do anything to get what she needs.”

Aang nodded, trying to push down the unease in his stomach. “Can’t I use other elements to defend from fire?”

“Sometimes, yes, but not all the time.” Zuko lit a flame in his hand, hot enough that Aang could feel it from a few feet away. “The best way to put out a bender’s fire is with firebending. Earth, water and air can do it, but it’s much harder, especially if the other person is trying to stop you.”

“So I can bend someone else’s fire?”

“It’s not easy,” Zuko said, “but I don’t think that should be a problem for you. Try moving it .”

The flame between them barely flickered, burning strong. He could feel the energy from it - not just the heat, but the power and pull inside of it. Firebending stances were still unfamiliar, but after the Sun Warriors, they felt more natural. He reached forward, sensing the way it resisted him when he tried to pull it towards him. But after a few seconds, he felt it acquiesce, following his movements, even if a little jerkily.

“Good,” Zuko said. “Now try taking it from me.” He stepped back a few paces, making the flame slightly smaller.

Aang shifted into a more grounded position. Finding your root, Zuko had said at some point, was vital in firebending. The flame was weaker this time, but he could feel the difference between sending someone’s fire flickering and taking control of it. Zuko didn’t seem to be trying too hard to keep the flame in his hand, but it still stubbornly resisted Aang’s movements.  
He caught hold of the energy, the little heartbeat in the fire, but other than flickering and swaying, it didn’t move.

“You’re treating it like water,” Zuko said after a moment. “You don’t guide fire, you push it.”

Aang faltered. “Like earth? I’m not great at earthbending yet.”  
He repressed a shudder at the memory of Toph’s first attempt at a lesson. There had been yelling (from both parties) and far more flying rocks than Aang was comfortable with.

“Not really,” Zuko said. “It’s somewhere in the middle. My un- someone told me it’s the element of power. You need power to control fire, but if you force it or treat it like earth, you’ll probably lose control.”

Aang nodded hesitantly, then turned back to the flame. He found the pulse inside it, feeling the pull of resistance. He just needed to pull harder. And finally, it moved, still a little jerky, but jumping from Zuko’s hand.

“It’s still... fighting me.”

“Fire is like that,” Zuko shrugged. “It’s still not your fire. And even when you create it, it won’t obey you all the time. It’s basically alive, so you can bend it, but you can’t force it to do anything you want it to.”

“So power, but not too much power?”

“Firebenders with too much power,” Zuko said a little wryly, “are the reason we’re in this whole mess.”

•••

“Still want to marry my sister, Katara?”

“I wasn’t talking about me marrying your sister.”

“But you said-“

“Yeah, you would be a great brother in law, if you weren’t denser than Sokka.”

“You-“

“Think about it.”

“But- oh. Oh. Wait- Katara-!”

•••

“Katara, what did you say to Zuko? He’s been staring at a tree for the past three hours. I think you broke him.”

•••

Azula hadn’t lost. That was what she reminded herself of as they walked back to the ship, her managing to steam most of the water out with some creative firebending. She didn’t offer Mai and Ty Lee the same courtesy and they knew better than to ask.

This wasn’t a failure, it was... a delayed victory. She had gathered more information in one fight than Zhao could ever hope to if he fought the Avatar every day for the rest of his life. She knew that the Avatar travelled with benders, and at least two masters. Two waterbenders, but one was clearly more trained than the other; the tiny blind girl who was actually a highly skilled earthbender; and the person in the Dark Water Spirit mask who had dissolved her fire with obvious skill. The two nonbenders weren’t prodigious, but they could still hold their own. And the older one was clearly unafraid of fighting dirty, judging by the cheap shots she had taken with her knives.

Azula wasn’t stupid. But clearly the person under that mask thought she was. She couldn’t blame him, intellect seemed to skip over some in the bloodline.

“Are you okay, Azula?” asked Ty Lee, with a gentleness that made the firebender want to snap.

Instead, she scoffed. “Of course I am, don’t be ridiculous. And this is good, we have all the information we need to track and apprehend them now.”

“But who could the Blue Spirit have been?” Ty Lee wondered aloud. “Clearly they care about the avatar, but they seemed to know Azula too.”

“That,” Azula said evenly, “was my brother. 

“Zuko?” Ty Lee’s eyes widened. “But Zuko’s- he’s dead-“

Mai didn’t bother looking surprised. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to find him,” Azula shrugged, “and discuss his options moving forward.”

“That sounds ominous.” Ty Lee said. “Are you being ominous on purpose, or is that just another one of those things you say and they come off all intense anyway?”

“I’ll decide later.”

———

Zuko was harder to find than the Avatar. She had to give him credit for that. It was easy enough to locate the bison, and a general idea of their landing spot. She couldn’t have sent troops to take down the Avatar (a pathetically nonviolent monk), or even gone herself, but it wouldn’t be hard to do that another day.  
Her brother had always been good at evasion, however. She would never admit it aloud, but it was a rare area in which he surpassed her. He was the only person to sneak into the Fire Lord’s office and not be caught. Azula had been found, embarrassingly quickly. Perhaps Zuko knew the consequences for him would be far more dire if he had been.

This time, the consequences would only be dire if he made them so.

The Avatar’s camp was the only one in the area, the firelight visible in the distance. She didn’t get too close this time - the blind earthbender fought in such a way Azula figured she had some sort of alternate detection method. Now was not the time to test her range. A guard was appointed - the Water Tribe boy - leaned against a rock just outside the camp. He looked just as bored as she felt.  
Her second excursion into espionage was just was dull as the first.

Zuko appeared several hours after sunset, replacing the Water Tribe boy as night guard, and Azula caught sight of her brother for the first time in almost four years. She was under no delusions that he had left unharmed, and knew who had done it, but the scar still sent something close to shock through her. Even in the dim moonlight, she could see it was huge and vicious. If father were here, she would make a cutting joke about his thoroughness.  
When Zuko turned to glance at an elephant rat rustling through the leaves, she saw that it curled down his neck. Father must have lit more than his face on fire. She distantly wondered how much it must have hurt.

But no matter what else changed, he was still predictable. Mai’s diversion of sending a rock crashing off a small cliff in the forest drew him out quickly; he didn’t bother alerting anyone else. Azula just watched as Ty Lee appeared behind him, and he tensed the second she moved. Still, he didn’t turn fast enough to avoid her precise strikes.  
Chi blocking was a wonderful asset.

Before he could yell, Mai deftly tied a cloth over his mouth, Ty Lee pulling him to his feet as Azula finally stepped out. His eyes - well, the unburned one - widened, but whatever he tried to say was muffled.

“Hello, Zuzu. Sorry we had to meet like this, but I had really expected less treason from you.” She looked levelly at Mai and Ty Lee. “Take him back to the ship.”

•••

Azula’s prison rig was surprisingly nice. That didn’t really make the fact it was a prison any better, but it was certainly nicer than Zhao’s had been.

“What are you doing?” Zuko demanded, pulling sharply on the cuffs around his wrists. “Let me go!”

She was frowning as she leaned against the bars to his cell, and looked so much like mother with that expression he almost felt like a child being told off. “No, you need to listen to me. I don’t want to fight you or your friends, I want to help you.”

“Tying people up doesn’t give the best first impression.” He gave the cuffs another demonstrative yank.

She rolled her eyes. “Listen, Zuzu. We can do this together. Once we capture the Avatar-“

“We’re not capturing Aang!”

“We just need to bring the Avatar back to the Fire Nation, and-“

“Azula, I won’t let you bring him there.” He recognised the look on her face, the determination that meant she would tear apart the Spirit World itself if she had to in order to reach her goal. But this wasn’t playing volleyball or firebending practice anymore. It scared him.

Her frown was back full force, but coloured with frustration. “My mission is clear. And I can help you too.”

“He’s a child, you know what father will do to him!”

“Listen to me!” She snapped, fixing him with an intense look. “If we capture the Avatar together, you can come back with me. You can come home.”

“I can’t.” It hurt to say, and even more to see the flicker of pain across her face, quickly masked. 

“Yes you can. Did you really mean what you said in those letters? Did you really want to see me again?”

“Of course I did, Zula! I just- I can’t go back, even if we did something like that. He’ll kill me.”

“I won’t let him!” She insisted. “If we bring him the Avatar together, if we make it public too, he’ll forgive you. Or at least he’ll have to publicly, so he can’t do anything to you.”

“Azula, please.” He vaguely wanted to cry. She was right here, his little sister was right in front of him, and he knew he was going to lose her again. “Come with us. Let me go, and I’ll introduce you to Aang and the others. Neither of us have to go back.”

“No,” she said quietly, tonelessly, turning sharply away from the bars. “I have to capture the Avatar.”

•••

It took Zuko ten minutes to escape after she left the room. Azula had honestly expected him to be quicker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, June is not lying when she says everyone who has accused her of liking poetry is dead. It just so happens that that is only three people 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Please interact with me [on tumblr](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/), I’m asocial as hell but someone sent me an anon and I got so hyped I want to get it framed and hung up on my wall


	14. Could End in Lightning and Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real villain is capitalism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope you’re all doing well!

Druk was alone when morning broke over the camp. The dragon was curled around the fire, quietly puffing out smoke and twitching restlessly. It immediately set Yue on edge. It took her another moment to realise why - and that Zuko was nowhere to be seen.

“Has anyone seen Zuko?”

Sokka blinked at her from his sleeping bag, suddenly seeming to wake up fully. “Not since we switched over watch duty last night.”

“Maybe he got kidnapped again,” June shrugged, kicking off her blanket and stretching, unconcerned. “Dude gets kidnapped all the time. Give him another ten minutes to get out.”

Yue sighed and scooped Druk up, managing to avoid the little plume of flame when he squeaked in surprise. “He better get back soon. I’m not solo parenting a dragon.”

“I think Druk would go to me,” Aang pointed out. “I did help Zuko find him.”

“You’re still a child,” she argued. “Plus I’ve basically been raising Toph, so I’m more than equipped to deal with a fire-breathing terror.”

“Can we wait until he’s, like, dead before we start discussing custody?” Sokka asked.

“I’m pretty sure he’s immortal at this point,” said June. “He refuses to die. Like a wood-roach.”

“He’s alive,” Toph confirmed, palm flat on the ground. “Or someone else is coming, and they also have a medically concerning heartbeat.”

“Where have you been?” Yue demanded as soon as Zuko reappeared between the trees, looking like he hadn’t slept in a week.

Druk scrambled out of her arms, managing to kick her deftly in the stomach as he launched himself at Zuko. Little traitor.

“Azula found us,” he said a little breathlessly, stumbling back half a step from Druk’s rapidly increasing weight. “We have to move.”

Yue nodded, but there was an odd, swirling feeling in her chest. “We should move quickly. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Something spirit-y?” Sokka asked a little dubiously. “Because that’s the look Aang gets when it’s something spirit-y.”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “But I don’t think it’s good.”

Thankfully nothing jumped out from the trees to ambush them as they cleared camp, but it didn’t go away. And even Nyla seemed a little less reluctant being secured to Appa’s saddle. Yue tried not to let herself worry, petting Appa absentmindedly as June and Toph made final checks the area was clear. The bison rumbled half comfortingly.

It reminded her of home, in some strange way. It was like the push and pull of waves inside her as the tides rose, the splashes of something not quite normal before the sky cracked into an unexpected, explosive storm.  
She wished she could talk to Tui like Zuko to Vaatu, but the moon only seemed to whisper to her at night. It would be a full moon soon, and she could feel the subtle pull that guided her as close to the sky as possible - but it felt like something was going to happen before that.

They took off without a sign of movement below them. A Fire Nation ship in the harbour, but no sign it had seen them or attempted to follow. 

Zuko had curled up, exhausted, in the corner of the saddle, seemingly no longer caring about his fear that he would get thrown off if Appa sneezed. He turned to her, already half asleep. “Vaatu said you’re right. Something’s gonna happen.”

Before anyone could question that, he was asleep.

•••

“Ah, pai sho. May I have this game?”

“The guest has the first move.”

•••

“A storm is coming, vessel.”

Zuko opened his eyes to a clear blue sky, endless and cloudless. Vaatu drifted at the edge of his peripheral vision, shadowy tendrils trailing around him. The ground beneath him was softer than it ever was in the the mortal world, and he sat up to find himself surrounded by wildflowers.

“What kind of storm?”

He didn’t bother getting up, tipping his head back to watch the sky. There was no sun here, but he still felt warm.

“That is open to interpretation.”

“You’re impossible,” he complained, but almost felt like laughing.

Vaatu turned and drifted closer, draping a dark limb over Zuko’s shoulder. It was oddly comforting. “How are you feeling about your sister?”

He paused, not sure how or if he wanted to answer that. “I don’t know.” He said after a moment, and Vaatu gently squeezed his shoulder. “Have you been reading scrolls on parenting again?”

“Wan Shi Tong lent me one on raising teenagers,” Vaatu admitted. “Also, we should discuss where babies come from-“

“No we shouldn’t! I know! I don’t need that talk with you!”

“But vessel, it is vital to human familial bonding!”

“It definitely is not!”

“The scroll was very clear-“

“I will pay you to never speak of this again.”

“Human currency is of no value to me, so- oh! I should also be giving you an allowance.”

“Vaatu, we share the same mortal body, and we have no money.”

“Hmm, the scrolls did suggest fathers should try to procure steady jobs to support their offspring.”

“You’re a spirit.” Zuko said dumbly. “Of chaos.”

“I’ve heard construction pays well.”

“You don’t have arms!”

•••

Sokka was starting to wonder when they would run out of villages to run to. He also had a bad feeling about Azula, specifically how far she would go to find them. If she was anything like Zuko...  
Well, he’d seen Zuko have a standoff with a moose lion over a fishing spot. He wasn’t filled with hope. He prayed to Tui and La it didn’t run in the family.

Somehow, Zuko had ended up half leaned against him at some point in the flight, head against Sokka’s upper arm, and the heat the firebender radiated must have been affecting him. There was an odd feeling in his chest. Zuko shifted in his sleep, and his hair brushed against Sokka’s bare forearm. It had come undone from the way he usually wore it, either a ponytail or topknot, and it was a lot longer than Sokka had realised. It probably came down past his shoulders when all the way down, and he was struck by the overwhelming urge to touch it. The weird feeling intensified.  
Why was Zuko’s hair making him feel so weird? It was almost like the time Suki-

Ah. 

Shit. 

That made sense.

•••

Watching her brother go through what looked like the seven stages of grief, Katara was trying not to laugh so hard she cried.  
Katara wasn’t stupid, and neither, apparently, was Yue. Sokka, however, was another story. And she didn’t know Zuko well enough to form a decisive opinion, but he pretty much radiated ‘oblivious idiot’ energy.

“It’s kinda sweet,” Yue murmured conspiratorially, nudging her with her shoulder.

“This is going to either be hilarious or infuriating.”

“Hey,” June leaned over from where petting Nyla, his head in her lap. “You want in on the betting pool?”

“We have money?”

“Well, no, but if Yue rescinds her ‘no crime’ rule we will.”

The other waterbender sighed heavily. “The ‘no crime’ rule is nonnegotiable.”

“Then how am I supposed to profit off their suffering?”

“Whose suffering?”

Katara, Yue and June all snapped to look up as Sokka looked at them suspiciously from across the saddle. Katara valiantly held back a snicker when she noticed Zuko’s head was almost in his lap, and Sokka seemed to be entirely unaware that one of his hands was on the firebender’s hair.

“Momo and Mochi,” June lied smoothly. Katara would be worried if she weren’t impressed. “The lemur is vicious, but with anyone but Zuko, that turtleduck’s out for blood.”

“Momo isn’t vicious!” Aang called from Appa’s head.

As if to prove June’s other point, however, Mochi’s beady black eyes appeared poking out of a pile of fabric and sleeping dragon. Druk had settled down as soon as Zuko fell asleep, and had taken to curling around anything small enough. Momo was far more adverse to this than Mochi, who seemed to like it. Mochi didn’t seem to like much else. Those tiny black eyes were quickly trained on Sokka.

“Okay, let’s not provoke either of them!” Sokka said quickly. “No one deserves death by turtleduck.”

“Ozai.” Toph said bluntly.

“Zhao.” June added.

Katara acquiesced. “Maybe some of the Fire Nation army.”

Sokka nodded. “Jet.”

After a moment, Yue said thoughtfully “maybe Pakku.” 

“I wouldn’t say death,” Toph hummed. “Maybe a super feathery mauling.”

“You’d need more than one to take on Pakku,” June said, “unless you tied him down or something.”

“I’m pretty sure that makes it torture,” Toph pointed out. “Unless you swarmed him with, like, a hundred, with a taste for blood.”

June considered. “How would you find and train that many? You’d need a full on turtleduck assassin bootcamp.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard. Have you seen those things when they’re pissed off?”

“Toph,” Yue sighed, “we’ve talked about swearing-“

“You’re literally endorsing turtleduck themed torture, and you draw the line at me saying ‘pissed’?”

“Uh, guys?” Aang was glancing at them, looking not a little concerned. “Could you lighten up a bit back there?”

•••

“I see you favour the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways.”

“Those who do can always find a friend.”

“Then let us play.”

•••

When Zuko woke up, there was a hand in his hair. He suppressed his first instinct: setting that hand on fire. No one had really touched his hair while he slept since mother left, and Toph rolling onto it in her sleep didn’t really count.  
The second thing he noticed was that when he cracked an eye open, there was blue fabric under him. And he could hear Katara talking to Aang up near Appa’s head, which meant he was completely and utterly doomed. 

Then Yue glanced over, lips quirking up into a sly smile. “Morning, Zuko.”

He bolted upright, which didn’t have the desired outcome when Sokka jumped back with a screech as Zuko headbutted him in the face.

“Sprits, I’m so sorry!” He was definitely bright red, feeling all of his blood rushing to his face. “Sokka, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sokka insisted, but the way he was clutching his face said otherwise. “I might have a very broken nose, but fine.”

Zuko turned to look beseechingly at Katara and Yue, who were shaking with silent laughter. Apparently his scowl was not impressive enough to make them stop, but Yue calmed down just enough to suggest he practice waterbending healing before breaking into another fit of giggles.

He turned to look back at Sokka, now pressing a handful of fabric to his nose. “Uh, sorry. Again. But I can try healing it if you want?”

“Yes please,” Sokka mumbled. “Katara and Yue enjoy my pain too much.”

“Right.” Zuko carefully pulled some water down from the air, much easier with all the clouds at their altitude. “This might hurt a bit. It’s not supposed to, but I’m not very good at this.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “That makes me feel so much better.”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t killed anyone doing this yet.” Zuko was really, really bad at comforting people, but Sokka let out a choked laugh at that.

The water was cold on his hands, so he heated it a little with firebending as Sokka lowered the cloth. It didn’t need to be cold for healing, and he was pretty sure Yue just used cold water on him to dissuade him from jumping off tall things. Unfortunately for her, jumping off tall things was often the most effective method in a variety of situations.  
Sokka was bleeding a little, but it didn’t look broken - at least not badly. He pressed his hands against the skin, feeling the water testing and probing. Sokka jumped a little at the contact, but held still. Zuko hadn’t been lying, he wasn’t a great healer, but he could still feel the blood and bone and muscles under the skin. It felt like a fracture, a small crack, and he pushed the water forward, feeling the strangeness of the healing beginning. Thank Agni, he wouldn’t need to set it. The water glowed, flickering with blue light - Yue’s was always better, but he could feel it working as the bone (or whatever was in bones) started knitting together. It felt weird, but it was probably way weirder for Sokka, so he could suffer in silence.

“Okay, done.” He leaned back on his heels, flicking the slightly bloody water over the side of the saddle. Hopefully there wasn’t anyone below them. “Does it... feel okay?”

Sokka gingerly touched his nose, then poked it a little. “Great, actually. Thanks for not accidentally killing me.”

“Hey, that hasn’t happened yet,” Zuko protested.

“The fact you feel the need to add ‘yet’ is concerning.”

———

They landed around midday, Appa settling in behind a tall rock on the beach.

“It’s best if we can keep an eye on the sea,” Sokka explained. “All we really know is that Azula has a boat, and that that’s bad.”

“Yeah, fuck boats,” Toph said.

“Toph!”

“How else am I supposed to adequately express my hatred?”

“We can talk shit about boats later,” June cut in. “Right now we have to focus on blaming Sokka for leaving our food supplies at the last camp.”

Sokka spluttered indignantly. “What? That wasn’t even my job!”

June rolled her eyes. “Well duh, but you’re the most convenient scapegoat.”

“Are you saying we have no food?” Aang asked, sliding down from Appa’s head. 

“Yeah, we’re screwed.”

“Look, I saw a market when we flew over,” Sokka said. “Let’s go buy more.”

“We’re also broke.”

“Let’s go creatively acquire more. I mean, Katara’s already proved she’s cool with stealing.”

“The pirates stole it first!”

“Less yelling, more stealing, Katara!”

“No one’s stealing!” Yue interrupted, hands on hips.

“What if-“

“That’s called highway robbery. No, Zuko.”

“You didn’t know I was going to suggest-“

“Yes I did.”

Katara looked somewhat concerned. “Just how much... crime... do you guys do?”

“None when Yue’s around,” June quipped.

“Nowhere near enough,” Toph sighed.

“I still don’t think it counts as crime if they just hand over the money,” Zuko argued.

Yue pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s a crime if you’re pointing swords at them when they do it.”

•••

Azula was considering murdering her uncle. The great Dragon of the West, the man who laid siege to Ba Sing Se for six hundred days, the original heir to the Dragon Throne, was the single most frustrating person she had ever encountered. First commandeering her crew to play stupid board games, now this.

“Find my uncle,” she snapped to Mai and Ty Lee, striding into Mai’s room (where Ty Lee just so happened to be sitting on the bed with her). “He’s old and fat, he can’t have gone far.”

“Uncle Iroh’s missing?” Ty Lee asked, looking far too upset for Azula’s tastes.

“Don’t call him that. And he wandered off looking for a local pai sho club, and we need to leave soon.”

“Leave him here.” Mai suggested, and Ty Lee squeaked indignantly.

“Believe me, I would love to.” Azula sighed. “But the crew would probably mutiny and I don’t have the time for mass executions.”

She turned and headed back onto deck, calling over her shoulder “bring him back before dusk, we need to leave before nightfall.”

As she stepped out into the midday sunlight, the lieutenant fell into step just beside her. A man named Jee, experienced with the navy. Even though her uncle had recommended him, she could almost respect him. 

“Princess Azula, the helmsman has expressed some concern regarding the weather. He believes a storm will soon be upon us.”

Or not.

She rolled her eyes, not turning to him but trusting he got the message. “Lieutenant, is the helmsman blind?”

“No, princess, but-“

“Are you blind?”

“No, princess-“

“Then we will leave as soon as my uncle returns. Let’s hope he doesn’t delay us much longer. He’s probably gone out for a walk, seeing as the weather is so nice.”

“Yes, princess.” 

She narrowed her eyes at his curt tone, finally stopping at the helm and turning to face him. “Do you think we should delay our departure, lieutenant?”

His eyes widened fractionally, but he kept his composure. “I apologise, your highness.”

“That’s not what I asked. Do you think we should wait?”

There was a heavily loaded pause. “Yes, princess. The helmsman says the weather and tides both are against us. For the crew’s safety-“

“Do the tides command this ship?”

“No, princess.” His answer was quick, he knew where this was going.

“Do you swear loyalty to the tides?”

“No, princess.”

“Then I struggle to see why you would have me bow to them.”

“Understood, princess.”

“We will depart as soon as possible.”

•••

“Welcome, brother. The white lotus opens wide to those know know her secrets.”

•••

For the record, Sokka was on team highway robbery. But instead he found himself doing what Katara said, as per usual. In this case, getting a job.

June had disappeared to look for a quick bounty to do, taking a very excited Toph with her, despite Yue’s apprehension. “No crime,” she had reiterated as they left. Their answering derisive scoffs didn’t fill anyone with confidence.

The market town was small, so the rest of them ended up wandering down the seafront stalls and docks in search of anyone hiring. And if he was being honest, Sokka didn’t really listen to much of the argument going on nearby other than “and I’ll pay him double!”

“What are you doing?” Katara demanded, as Sokka did exactly what she had recommended and negotiated a new job.

“He’s paying double!”

“What? Who told you that?” The man snapped, but before Sokka could protest, Zuko stepped in. He handed Yue a suspiciously dragon-shaped bundle then turned to the fisherman.

“I’ll help to. Will you pay double then?”

The fisherman eyed them critically, but nodded at Zuko. “Sure, but your buddy looks like he couldn’t lift a salmon trout. He’ll have to pull his own weight.”

To his credit, Sokka didn’t quit right then and there.

•••

The bounty June found turned out to be laughably easy, and very well paid. 

“Can’t you go higher? This isn’t exactly a simple job,” June lied. “And we really need the cash. My little cousin, she’s-“ June dropped her voice “she’s blind.”

Toph gave an impressively innocent look in the innkeeper’s general direction. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We just don’t want to go hungry tonight.”

Damn, the little monster could act. June had never been prouder.

“Well...” the innkeeper faltered, then sighed. “Well I suppose I could bring it up a bit. Would your cousin like to wait for you here? I don’t think it’s safe for little girls out there. Especially with her... disability.”

Toph twitched a little, but didn’t bury the woman in a rockslide. “Oh, I don’t want to be apart from my big cousin,” she said. “Being blind, having no way to see, it’s all so scary.”

June managed not to laugh, but it was a close call. “And I’d much rather be able to keep an eye on her.”

“Oh, of course dears,” the woman said, “just let me know if you need anything. You seem such nice young ladies.”

The dam broke as soon as they got outside, bursting into laughter as they made their way to the outskirts of town. “Damn, scamming is fun,” Toph giggled. “Yue doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”

“Your ‘helpless blind girl’ act is the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” June choked out. “Holy shit, that was good.”

Toph was still grinning hard as they staked out one of the rougher parts of town, hanging around a ramshackle bar. “Do you think I could be a bounty hunter?”

“Kid, with utmost sincerity, I think you could do literally anything.”

•••

The sky started darkening, and they ended up with a front row seat to the couple’s argument. Aang and Yue were awkwardly milling about, trying to stay out of it, and Katara couldn’t blame them. Sokka and Zuko had disappeared to carry some supplies to fisherman’s tiny boat, with only minor grumbling from the former. 

“Look at the sky, it’s never been clearer!” The man was arguing, as his wife tried to yank his fish basket out of his hands.

“My bones say there’s going to be a storm!” The woman snapped. Katara couldn’t help silently agreeing with erring on the side of caution.

“It’s your bones against my brain!” The fisherman huffed.

“This might not be a good idea,” Aang said carefully when Sokka and Zuko returned. “I mean, look at the sky!”

“I’m not backing out now,” Sokka said resolutely, but gave a small shrug. “It’s just a few clouds.”

Zuko looked more hesitant, scanning the sky, but nodded too. “We need the money. And it can’t be that bad.”

“The boy with the tattoos is right,” the woman grumbled, but Sokka and Zuko had already vanished below deck again.

The fisherman froze, then turned slowly. “Tattoos,” he said slowly, staring at Aang intensely. “Airbender tattoos. You’re the Avatar, ain’t ya?”

“That’s right,” Katara said brightly. Aang smiled, but Yue frowned slightly, almost on edge. 

“Well don’t look so happy about it,” he almost huffed.

“What?” 

“The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world!”

Katara bristled, feeling anger surging up in her. There was a hand on her shoulder, Yue or Aang, she didn’t care. “Don’t yell at him! He would never turn his back on anyone!”

“Oh, so I guess I imagined the last hundred years of war?” He spat. “All the death and suffering?”

Yue stepped forward before Katara or Aang could say anything, fixing the man with a coldly stern look. “Aang is one of the bravest people I know. He has done nothing but help and save lives.”

“Exactly,” Katara said, holding back a snarl. “It’s not his fault he disappeared, right Aang?”

Then she turned to look at him. The look on his face was almost haunted, eyes clouded with guilt.

“Aang?”

He shook his head mutely, then pulled out his glider and disappeared into the sky.

•••

Katara was off after Aang in seconds, leaving Yue to put years of courtly training in hiding emotions into practice. 

“Yeah, keep flying!” The man yelled after him, and the rage coiling in her simmered before it cooled.

“If you lived through half of what he had, I doubt you would have the strength to stand here today.”

The man scoffed. “He has a duty to the world, and he couldn’t be bothered to do it.”

“He’s twelve. He’s the only survivor of a genocide that killed everyone he knew and loved. Even if he ran, I couldn’t blame him, and I don’t think you should either.”

She walked away before she could do something she regretted. Or something he regretted, that she shouldn’t have done. Either way, she let the tsunami in her chest shrink to a storm.

She was under no illusions that everything would be fine when she caught up with them, and found herself hesitating. Time alone to talk would probably be best. No one had confirmed it, but it was pretty clear Aang and Katara had something going on and would prefer to talk it out themselves. Yue watched Aang’s glider dip, swoop into a cave in the mountain side. She would catch up in a bit.

The town centre was busy, but with only a few stalls, there was little for her to do. She found herself sitting on a bench next to the notice board, fighting the urge to seek out Aang and Katara and get answers. She wouldn’t blame Aang for running away. She had run away, left her people and her tribe, and the destiny Tui had spoken of so sadly. But she knew Aang had spent a century trapped in the ice, awoken to a world that needed him to sacrifice everything for the good of others. She liked to think she had done the same thing. She had certainly done more in the past three years than she would ever have been allowed to her whole life in the North. She had fought and trained and healed, and fallen head over heels in love with a girl her tribe would force her to give up. 

Even the thought of Suki made the wave in her heart rise and crash, but softly. She found herself smiling a little, pulling her necklace out from under her collar, tracing the tiny golden fan. Spirits, she was sappy. Not that she really cared.

When she tucked it away and scanned the market area again, her eyes caught on the posters plastered over the central notice board. Mostly criminals and news - hopefully Toph and June had taken a reasonable bounty, and wouldn’t bite off more than they could chew. But then again, she doubted they would let anything short of the great sprits get in their way. 

But when she glanced over a news post, her stomach dropped. She was on her feet, reading it again and again and again, but the words slipped away like raindrops. Only a few stuck in her head, repeating endlessly. 

Nuzisu village. Fire Nation.

Patience be damned. She tore it from the board and ran.

•••

The sky was getting darker and darker, but that was really the least of his worries.  
He really hadn’t thought this through. Look, Sokka was the plan guy, but those plans weren’t exactly foolproof. And if Katara was to be believed, he was just fool enough to screw them up.  
But for once, the plan was perfect. The problem was Zuko.

Because being on a tiny boat with the guy you just realised you have an embarrassingly big crush on isn’t a genius move. Not that Sokka wasn’t enjoying it, but he gave himself about five minutes to screw it up. 

With Suki, he’d taken less time to insult and mortally offend her, and then get beaten up by her, tricked into wearing a dress, then got the ‘sorry I have a girlfriend’ speech after an attempted kiss. Not his finest moment. Well, series of moments. And other than a brief crush on Yue, that didn’t leave him with a great track record.

Spirits, he didn’t even know if Zuko would like him back. If his history with Jet was anything to go by, he had a terrible taste in boys. Should Sokka be offended if that turned out to include him? Maybe Jet was an outlier. June had said he’d almost married Mai, but that didn’t really count. He needed more data-  
But maybe interrogating Zuko on his dating history was a bad move.

“Hey, you!” The fisherman snapped, jolting Sokka out of his thoughts. “Less staring, more fishing!”

Sokka got to fishing. 

•••

There were two things Azula could not stand: incompetence and disobedience. She would love to strike down anyone guilty of either, but it was truly hard to find someone who lacked both.

“Sorry, Azula, we couldn’t find Uncle Iroh anywhere.”

She didn’t bother addressing Mai and Ty Lee other than with a sharp nod, turning to the lieutenant staunchly avoiding her gaze.

“Lieutenant, do you have something to say?”

“I’m sorry, princess, but a lot of the crew have raised concerns about our departure. The weather has... changed, so-“

She pointedly did not look at the very clearly darkening sky, or the very obviously forming storm clouds.

“Do you always feel the need to state the obvious?”

“My apologies, princess.”

She glanced around the deck, with the expressions on the crew’s faces ranging from apprehensive to angry.

“As my uncle has failed to return in a timely manner, I suppose we will have to delay. Send notice to Zhao that we will not be meeting him or pursing the Avatar until we can do so safely. It wouldn’t exactly be ideal for the nation’s heir to disappear at sea.”

“At once, princess. Thank you.”

“In future, however, tell my people they can bring complaints to me themselves.”

That should certainly reduce the volume of time-wasters.

•••

June was going to take Toph bounty hunting more often. Even with Nyla resting on the beach with Appa, they had their target snivelling on the ground in less than ten minutes, Toph cackling delightedly.

“That’s what you get for tax evasion!”

“Actually, he dodged his tab at the bar.”

“Eh, that’s better. Tax evasion is cool.” She turned in the general direction of the man. “That’s what you get for not supporting local businesses!”

———

“Nice job, kid.”

“I could literally destroy you in seconds and you still call me ‘kid’?”

“Listen, kid, you can do all this shit as a child. Imagine what you’re gonna be able to do when you grow up.”

Toph smiled, then shrieked when June scooped her up and put her on her shoulders, holding her steady by the legs. “Put me down!”

“You let Zuko carry you, and he’s an idiot.”

“I can’t see!” June could hear her pout.

“I can’t let the world’s greatest earthbender get tired.”

“Fine,” Toph huffed, but there was laughter somewhere under her tone. “When Zuko carries me he lets me tell him which way to go.”

“And you get him to walk into shit?”

“Of course.”

“Well I have a functioning brain, so we’re not doing that.”

“I thought you were the fun one.”

“Oh, I’ll show you fun-“

Toph let out a yelp as June started running, grabbing tightly onto her head, then broke into breathless giggles. It was nice to hear her laugh like that, giddy and carefree. She sounded like a little girl, which she deserved to be.

She was still laughing quietly when they slowed down, now resting her chin on top of June’s head. 

“I think,” Toph said after a while, voice suddenly soft, “my dad carried me like this once.”

“Was it nice?” June asked carefully, and gave her leg a gentle squeeze.

“I think so. He was probably just doing it so I didn’t hurt myself walking through.”

“You want me to put you down?”

She considered for a moment, then “no. It’s nice. It’s way more fun with you and Zuko.”

“It doesn’t sound like your parents were a lot of fun.”

Toph let out a quiet chuckle. “They weren’t. I guess I should be glad they cared about my safety, but they didn’t care about anything else.”

“Hey, kid, you don’t have to be glad about anything. They were blind if they didn’t see that you needed them to be better.”

“Did you just make a blind joke?”

“Maybe.”

Toph punched her in the shoulder far more gently than usual. “Bitch.”

“Little shit.”

“Do you want to be my family? You’re my older cousin every time someone asks. We could make it official.” 

Stupidly soft feelings welled up in her, but she didn’t bother shutting them down.

“Better tell Zuko he’s losing his position as the fun one in the family.”

“Love you,” Toph said, quietly and muffled in June’s hair like she wasn’t sure she wanted it to be heard.

“I love you too, kid.”

June had never had a little cousin. Any kids in her family, really - growing up it had been her and her dad, and then just her, and then her and Nyla and-  
That wasn’t a train of thought she wanted to follow.

“I can feel your heart going weird.” Toph said, and June managed a sharp laugh.

“You know too much for your own good.” Then: “I was thinking that I’d always wanted more family when I was younger.”

“Why didn’t you?” Toph asked, then more lightly, “I mean, I’m sure you’re a catch.”

“I am,” June reassured her with a smirk, then paused. “But the person I wanted to do that with is gone. She left me.”

There was enough truth in that that Toph either didn’t realise or didn’t push it.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, kid. I’ll find someone else, but for now, I’m happy enough with all you little shits.”

•••

“Who knocks at the garden gate?”

“One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries.”

•••

“Aang?” 

Katara appeared at the cave entrance just as rain started falling outside. She gave him a small smile, so kind it made his heart hurt, guilt clawing it’s way up his throat.

“I’m sorry for running away.” It came out closer to a whisper.

“It’s okay,” she said, still smiling gently. “That fisherman was way out of line.”

“Actually,” Aang said, “he wasn’t.” 

He turned staring deep into the hollow darkness of the cave. Anything but looking at her and seeing that look of kind affection slip away.

“What do you mean?” She was behind him in a moment, putting a hand on his shoulder. He unconsciously leaned into the touch, and realised he didn’t want to pull away. He didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want her to know what he had done.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Aang, please. Talk to me.”

She sounded so calm, so forgiving, anger surged up in him unbidden before crashing back into cloying guilt and sadness.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

“That’s okay,” she said, sitting down opposite him. “Why don’t we get a fire going?”

He nodded, and they collected sticks laying around the cavern in silence. The flame in his hand seemed more wild than usual, and he remembered a comment about emotions fuelling firebending.  
Sitting in the half light as the fire crackled between them banished the biting cold, but illuminated the earnest look on Katara’s face.

•••

“A storm,” Sokka said grimly, staring up at the rapidly darkening sky.

Zuko cursed quietly. “Give me like, five minutes to go into the spirit world and punch Vaatu in the face.”

“Vaatu has a face?”

“He won’t after I’m done with him.”

Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance, giving only a second of warning before the sky split open with a slash of lightning. Terror rushed through him as it lit up the sky, sending his heart pounding and stuttering. It had never beat right, not since-  
Not since the last time he’d been this close to lightning.

Something must have shown on his face, because Sokka grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Let’s try to get back to port as soon as possible. Before-“

The sea started churning at the worst possible moment, and Zuko barely caught Sokka’s forearm in his other hand before the other boy was tossed into the sea. 

“Before something like that happens.” Sokka finished.

•••

Aang owed Katara the truth. In the firelight, the story fell from his mouth like rain.

Playing with the other kids (kids he would never see again) (kids no one would ever see again) at the temple, teaching them the air scooter. The elders arriving, leading him away and laying out his childhood toys (calling them the Avatar relics, like they had been made for anything but fun). Being told he was the Avatar, and that the world needed him, and that he had a duty to fulfil (the kindness in Gyatso’s eyes, reflected back in Katara’s across the fire). 

Training, learning, losing everyone but Gyatso. 

Then learning that he had to lose Gyatso too.

Then the storm. The letter on his bed. The rain and the ocean and Appa and falling.

Then opening his eyes to Katara.

“You ran away.”

“Then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me, and I wasn’t there to help.” He forced himself to meet her eyes for a second, then turned away. He didn’t want to see her reaction. “The world needed me and I wasn’t there to help.”

“Aang,” she said, so tenderly it only hurt more. “You don’t know what would have happened-“

“The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world.”

“You’re being to hard on yourself,” Katara said. “Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed... you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders.”

But what if he hadn’t? What if he had stayed and saved them, and saved the world, and ended the war before it began? What if Katara and Sokka still had a tribe, and Ty Lee had a airbending teacher who wasn’t twelve, and Gyatso got to stay at the temple for a long, happy life, baking fruit pies.

“I know it’s meant to be this way.” She shifted closer around the fire, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “The world needs you now. You give people hope.”

Thunder rumbled somewhere outside, followed by a flash of lightning. It somehow felt appropriate.

———

He wasn’t sure how long they had sat there when Yue burst in, the rain around her parting, leaving her dry. The woman beside her didn’t seem to have the same luxury, completely drenched. But that seemed to be the least of her worries. 

“Help!” She cried desperately. “Please, Avatar, I need you to save my husband!”

Aang was on his feet in an instant, as recognition dawned. “The fisherman? He was with Sokka and Zuko. Are they still out there?”

She nodded shakily. “They haven’t come back yet. And that storm is becoming a typhoon.”

“I’ll go after them.” 

“Me too,” Katara said resolutely. 

Yue nodded, tucking a sheet of paper in her hand into her pocket. “And me.”

“Well I’m staying here,” the woman decided.

Aang pulled out the bison whistle and blew hard, finding himself pacing across the cave mouth while he waited. 

He just hoped this storm ended better for him than the last.

•••

Sokka knew things had to get really bad before he wished he’d listened to Katara, but here he was. Lightning crashed down from the sky, and the three of them barely managed to throw themselves back in time. But it crashed into the mast with a terrifying crackle, followed by an even more terrifying crack. The torrential rain put out the fire quickly, but even in the half light, Sokka could see the mast beginning to splinter and buckle.

“I’m too young to die!”

“I’m not, but I still don’t wanna!”

Zuko managed to look more annoyed than terrified, but then again, he wasn’t certain Zuko was capable of fear. Sokka, however, certainly was. And of not wanting to regret things once he ended up in the spirit world.

“Zuko, if we’re going to die on a boat, I want to tell you, I really li-“

“We’re not going to die,” Zuko snapped. “I refuse to die on a boat.”

“That’s great and all,” Sokka said, possibly a little hysterically, “but how?”

Zuko turned, letting go of the side of the boat, somehow managing to stay upright on deck. The waterbending stance he moved into was one he had seen Katara do countless times, and when Zuko moved he swept away a wave seconds from crashing into them.

“You’re a waterbender?” The fisherman yelled, impressed but still managing to be a dick about it. “Do you know how many fish we’d have by now if you told me that?”

“This is not the time!” Sokka all but shrieked as Zuko sent another cresting wave crashing back.

It was also not the time to realise watching Zuko waterbend was somehow attractive, but he wasn’t going to announce that any time soon. Instead he tore his eyes away and scrambled for a coil of rope, lashing it around the steadily cracking mast as Zuko kept them relatively steady. His hands were shaking a little, from the cold and adrenaline, but he managed to secure it well enough.

“Sokka!” Zuko called, “I don’t know how much longer this is going to work!”

The waves were getting bigger, bigger than anything Sokka had seen even Yue bend.

“The mast will hold,” he called back, but they both knew the mast was the least of their worries. 

The next wave roared, easily ten times taller than Zuko. He pushed it to the side, sending it sweeping past them, but stumbled as another followed close behind. It sent him flying back with a yell, and Sokka barely caught him by the wrist in time.

“Thanks,” he said breathlessly as Sokka pulled him close, holding tight to the mast.

The fisherman was still at the helm, holding on for dear life. Sokka was too, and if they got out of this alive, Zuko would probably have bruises up his arm.

“I have an idea,” Zuko said, reluctance clear. “It’s really, really stupid but it might work.”

“Dude, ‘really, really stupid’ might be our only shot.”

Zuko nodded sharply, jaw set. And then he blinked, and his eyes opened glowing bright red.

Sokka had never been this close to anyone in the Avatar State, even Aang. It was still a little terrifying, but when Zuko - or was it Vaatu? - got to his feet and slashed an arm through the air, the wave rushing towards them split like a piece of wood. Air, or water, or whatever, cut through the sea as if it were skin. The forms were unfamiliar, and not just because Sokka rarely paid attention to actual bending in bending lessons. The look on Zuko’s face was eerie calm as he fought a literal force of nature.

The fisherman let out a strangled yell, but Zuko didn’t notice and Sokka didn’t care.

With another arm movement - Sokka really had no idea what these katas were called - the rain was pushed back, and then the air around them stopped whipping and biting. When Zuko stopped a moment later, arms outstretched, it took Sokka a moment to realise that the storm was still raging outside. It was like being inside a dome, one of the glass globes he’d seen sold in the Earth Kingdom. A pocket of relative calm in the storm, despite the sea still trying to toss them around from below.

“Holy fucking shit,” the fisherman muttered. Sokka was inclined to agree.

But he could see the tension in Zuko’s arms, the power of the storm outside furiously pushing against him. The red glow in his eyes seemed to flicker and shake.

Zuko’s voice was purely his, unlike when Vaatu had spoken with him back at Nuzisu, the day they had met. “I don’t think I can do this forever.”

Another mountainous wave slammed into the side of their bubble, but when Zuko moved to push it back, the whole thing shook. Rain started dripping through, and he could see from the way Zuko’s fingers trembled that it wasn’t going to hold.

“We can make it if we get below deck,” Sokka said, but he knew it probably wasn’t true.

Zuko looked like he was about to say something when lightning struck again. The whole world lit up, and then he realised it was because it was right in front of him. Before he could even start to shout, a warning or something else, the bubble collapsed as Zuko lunged towards it. 

Everyone knew that you didn’t get struck by lightning and live. 

But then again, Zuko refused to die on a boat and Sokka was inclined to believe him. He caught the bolt (the bolt that would have hit just inches from Sokka) in one hand, and for a moment he was sure Zuko was gone. But then he flung it aside, sending it arcing up into the sky as if he hadn’t just caught death itself and thrown it back at the spirits.

The red glow was fading, and Sokka managed to catch Zuko before he hit the deck.

“You okay there, buddy?”

“Yeah,” Zuko said a little breathlessly. “I’ll be fine. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You saved me. We’ll be okay.”

“Okay.”

Neither of them were good liars.

“Good,” Sokka said, and then, because he was probably high on adrenaline: “can I do something really, really stupid?”

“You get one free stupid pass.”

“Great,” Sokka said, then shoved every rational thought out of his head and kissed Zuko.

•••

“There they are!” Katara called, finally catching sight of the tiny fishing craft amongst the waves.

“Appa, down there!” 

The fisherman caught sight of them first, waving frantically and shouting something lost in the din of the storm. Sokka and Zuko, both holding onto the mast, jumped up to wave them over.

Yue got to her feet, balancing one had on the side of the saddle as she drove some of the rain back. Just enough to reach down and haul the fisherman up into the saddle. Aang pulled hard on the reins, calling encouragement to Appa as he brought them close enough for her to grab Sokka, pulling him up as Yue caught hold of Zuko.

“My boat!” The fisherman yelled.

The next wave smashed it apart.

“Let’s go!” Sokka yelled.

“Good idea.”

“Appa, yip yip!

She could barely see through sheets of rain as the pulled up higher into the sky, but another glint of grey in the waves instantly caught her eye.

“There’s a ship!” She called, and Aang turned, wide eyed.

“Do they need help?”

“We need help,” Sokka groaned, peering down. “It’s Fire Nation.”

“Maybe they won’t atta-“

The fireball launched at them was quickly extinguished, but Aang still had to pull Appa hard to the side to dodge the projectile.

Before anyone could react, Zuko was up. “It’s Zhao.”

“How do you know?” Sokka asked, trying to pull Zuko back down into the saddle.

“Azula’s ship is a cruiser, that’s a warship. And only Zhao would track us through a fucking storm.”

“Then we need to-“

His eyes started glowing a deep red. Sokka muttered something that sounded like “oh fuck, not again”. 

At first she couldn’t figure out what he was bending, but then the sea below them shifted. With a half circular motion, the planes of water below them changed direction, merging into a wall of raging water. A tsunami, slamming into the dark steel hull so hard Katara could swear she saw it fly out of the water.

———

They practically crashed into the beach, stumbling off of Appa and onto gloriously relatively solid sand. Katara swept Sokka into a hug, trying to calm the hammering in her chest. “You’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” he said, a little dazedly. “Spirits, I did something so stupid.”

“Yeah, you’re an idiot,” she managed to laugh. “That’s why you should have listened! I told you not to go.”

“Y-yeah. That. I should have listened to you.”

“Damn right you should have.”

She finally let him go, in time to see June and Toph running towards them, both drenched and dripping rainwater. “What the fuck happened to you guys?” June demanded.

“Long story,” Sokka shrugged.

Zuko had slumped down against a rock, apparently too tired to care about the rain soaking him through.

“One thing.” The fisherman cut in, glaring between Aang and Zuko. “Which one of you is the fucking Avatar?”

“Oh, it’s Sokka.” Zuko said, deadpan, then instantly fell asleep.

•••

“Welcome, Grand Lotus Iroh. It is an honour. What do you need?”

“I need the order’s help in finding my nephew.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 8k words! Can you tell The Storm is one of my favourite episodes? Anyway, this fic only loosely clings to canon, so some major things will change
> 
> This is getting a lot longer than I predicted, so I’d love to know you guys’ opinions. Should I do a book 2, write one shots in this universe or carry on here?
> 
> Also someone sent me an [anon on my tumblr](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/)  
> and it was incredible, so feel free to boost my ego over there lol


	15. Bad News (because these kids can’t catch a break)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the storm(s) part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nuzisu Village is the place team avatars met, and where Zuko Toph June and Yue lived/protected for three years
> 
> Short-ish chapter but I’m working on part 2!

Nyla arrived at the abandoned temple first, June, Toph and Yue slipping down from the saddle and guiding the shirshu into a sheltered courtyard. The rain was still lashing down outside, but it could almost be called calming when they weren’t being soaked by it. Yue dropped her water shield as they stepped inside, then bent the excess dampness out of their clothes.

Toph was shivering a little, she noted with a frown, but sent June to gather some of the flammable debris around them for a fire.

When the others arrived and dismounted, Appa promptly flopped down on the concrete and started snoring, not even stirring when Nyla wandered over and tucked himself into the bison’s side. The poor thing was exhausted from the storm, and it was probably best they’d decided to lighten his load on this trip.

“Everyone okay?” She asked as Zuko stirred briefly to light the fire, then collapsed against the shirshu. Nyla had settled down behind June, Zuko and Toph on one side of the fire, already snoring softly.

“Well we’re all here with all of our limbs, so I’d say that’s a win,” Sokka joked, even as Katara rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

They fell into easy conversation and joking, and Yue let them as she dropped some ingredients into a pot and started some stew. The paper felt like it was burning into her through her pocket, demanding her attention.

“Hey, Snowflake,” Toph said suddenly, head tilted towards her. “What’s up?”

Everyone was glancing at her now, mostly curious. But Zuko frowned, and she had a feeling Vaatu at least knew. Yue clutched the piece of paper in her hands, unable to keep the troubled look off of her face. “Nuzisu was taken by the Fire Nation.”

June swore quietly. 

“Well then let’s take it back,” Toph huffed. “We’ve beaten them before, we just have to do it again!”

“I don’t think going back is a good idea,” Yue said slowly. “We need to keep training Aang, and bringing him straight into a Fire Nation town is dangerous.

“We have to help them,” Zuko insisted, but he looked hesitant. “We can’t just leave them.”

“I’d say it’s your decision,” June said, nodding at Zuko.

“What? Why?”

“I mean, you’re technically the leader.”

“Since when?”

“Since you got yourself possessed by a chaos spirit and kidnapped a bunch of royalty.”

“It’s not kidnap-“

“I know, it’s not kidnapping if their parents are assholes, but that’s not the point.” She looked atypically serious. “It’s your call if we go back or not.”

Yue nodded solemnly, and even Toph didn’t protest.

Zuko sighed heavily, leaning back against Nyla. “We can’t leave them,” he said, but he sounded almost resigned. “We lived there for years. We looked after them, and then when they needed us, we were gone.”

Toph shuffled closer to him and unceremoniously draped herself over his legs, like an earthbender shaped weighted blanket. “I’ll do whatever you think is right.”

He sighed again, frustratedly, and a plume of flame erupted from his mouth. 

“I’ll go,” Yue said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her, wide eyed, but she continued. “You all stay and train Aang, and I’ll go to Nuzisu. I can pick up Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, and we can help the village.”

“But Aang needs a waterbending teacher,” Katara protested.

Yue gave her a smile. “I think you’re more than skilled enough for that. I could call you a master right now.”

“R-really?” Katara flushed pink, clearly fighting a grin.

“You’re the best waterbender I’ve ever trained,” she smiled. Then: “no offence, Aang and Zuko.”

“None taken,” Aang assured.

“I’m surprised you haven’t drowned me yet,” Zuko said.

“You can teach Aang while I’m gone,” Yue continued, briefly squeezing Katara’s hand. “You’re more than good enough.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay with just the Warriors?” Zuko asked. “We don’t know how big the occupation force is.”

“I’ll go with Yue,” June decided. “I’ve always wanted to knock a Fire Nation soldier’s helmet off with my whip.”

———

She couldn’t stop worrying as they loaded a few bags onto Appa, scanning over the group one last time. The bison rumbled softly as they climbed into the saddle, and Aang hugged him goodbye, and then hugged Yue and June (having much better luck with the former).

“Kyoshi’s only a day or so away,” he said. “And then another to Nuzisu.”

“We’ll see you in about a week,” Yue said, managing a smile. 

“Unless we die horribly,” June added. “If anything happens to Nyla while I’m gone, I’ll kill you all.”

“Don’t do that.” Toph instructed. “The dying. Or the killing, I guess. We don’t have the money for good funerals. Unless-“

“The no crime rule is still in place if I die,” Yue said firmly.

———

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Yue asked, watching the ruins recede into the distance.

“Of course they will,” June scoffed. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? Mysterious illness they need to suck on frogs to cure? The Fire Nation getting freaky skilled soldiers? Aang getting kidnapped and being held captive for decades to prevent the Avatar cycle from continuing?”

“Azula,” Yue said grimly. “I’d say she’s the worst that can happen. It just feels... bad... that Zuko’s family are back in the picture.”

“Yeah, well it’s not like uncle tea-and-board-games is going to be a problem. Anyway, relax. We’re only going to be gone a few days, and you get to be all gross and sappy with your girlfriend.”

A small smile tugged at Yue’s lips. “Yeah, I guess. I’m probably worrying too much.”

“You are,” June said, not unkindly. “Look, things getting that bad is about as unlikely as Azula taking up masked vigilantism.”

•••

He wasn’t sure what dream she had pulled him out of, but it had been nice. He remembered laughter and light and Katara before it melted from his mind and memory.

The second time, he recognised her. Well, he recognised where he was. The place, or void, or whatever it was Raava existed in, stretched out endlessly, yet still felt like it held him in. He turned and caught sight of her, the blue and white glow that defied a definite form.

“Avatar Aang,” she greeted, and he wondered if that was what a mother sounded like.

“Raava,” he said, a little breathlessly.

“You are coming along well in your training, young avatar.”

“Oh.” Words were sticking in his throat. Was this what Zuko had with Vaatu? Was this the same light and giddy feeling, the same knowledges was doing good enough? “Thank you.”

“You must, however, remember your duty. I see that you care for your companions, but order must come first. The blessing and the curse of my Avatars is that they serve the world, not the individuals in it.”

Her glow seemed to intensify and grow, and it was suddenly filling his field of vision. 

“There are sacrifices you will have to make. I chose you knowing you would be strong enough to make them.”

“I know my duty,” he said, and his voice seemed to echo and bounce through the void in a way hers didn’t. “I’ll do whatever I can to save the world.”

“I will guide you,” she assured. “I will help you find the right path, but you must take it.”

“I will,” he promised.

“I doubt it will be easy, but I do not doubt your loyalty to me, and to the restoration of order.”

“I won’t let you down.”

“I know, Avatar Aang.” Something brushed his shoulder, feather light but gentle. 

The void dissolved around him.

•••

The look on Toph’s face when she woke Katara up was nothing short of gleeful, and that alone was enough to make her nervous.

“How are you feeling, Sugar Queen?”

She elected to ignore the nickname, frowning. “Uh... fine? I’m not-“

She cut herself off in a fit of coughing, then groaned and flopped back down. “Maybe not.” 

Her throat felt scratchy, and a headache was beginning to take root.

“Oh that’s too bad. Pretty much everyone is sick,” Toph said, completely unsympathetically. “Anyway, I have good news.”

“Oh no,” Katara muttered, mostly to herself. Toph was still grinning widely.

“Sokka’s gone loopy.”

“How do you know? Is he okay?”

“He’ll be fine, but he’s clinging to Zuko like a pentapus and when I tried to pull him away, he hissed at me.”

She groaned and pulled herself up, scanning the area. Sokka was indeed curled up against Zuko, and appeared to have his arm in a tight grip. She laughed, then winced when it sent a jolt of pain through her head.

“Is everyone sick?”

“I’m not-“ Aang’s voice came from somewhere behind her, and she didn’t have the energy to look. “- and Zuko’s fine too, so far. And I think Sokka’s the only one getting the weird... brain side effects.”

“Your hair is so shiny,” Sokka told Zuko, but he sounded incredibly out of it. “Can I touch it?”

Zuko blinked, looking completely out of his depth. “Yes...?”

He reached up clumsily, clearly not exactly seeing straight, and very carefully pressed one finger to Zuko’s head. “It is soft!”

“Uh... thank you?”

Sokka’s eyes lit up. “You’re so pretty,” he mumbled, awkwardly petting the hair of a very dazed firebender. “How are you so pretty?”

Katara was making a poor attempt at choking back laughter. Zuko stared at her and mouthed ‘please kill me’. 

Katara did not kill him.

•••

When Azula was five, she had convinced a then seven year old Zuko that cousin Lu Ten wanted to see him in the catacombs under the palace. She had him locked in their for five hours before Lu Ten himself asked where he was. It was another two hours before Uncle Iroh asked her, and when she gave him the same answer, he just shook his head and asked her for the truth. 

The point being, Azula was a very good liar. The point she had apparently missed, however, was that Uncle Iroh was better. Well, not better, per se, but good - probably just as good as her. And he was sharp enough to catch her out on it. What she hadn’t considered was that he might use those skills more often than she had anticipated.

She almost believed him when he said he wanted to accompany her to her meeting with Commander Zhao, with some meaningless platitude about sharing tea with one’s s allies. She had almost forgotten that he was a tactical genius, and ruthless behind his kind facade.  
She almost forgot he was a monster, just like her.

He had killed Zuko. Well, he had come close. He had guided Ozai’s hand in a calculated way she hadn’t imagined him capable of. And Zuko had loved him so much, practically idolising the man. He was such a good liar Zuko had thought uncle loved him back. Azula wouldn’t make that mistake. When she got Zuko to join her, she would have to protect him from Iroh too.

“Niece, you look troubled,” he said, so calmly and kindly a lesser strategist would have fallen for it. She didn’t glance up from the pai sho board, finally sliding her piece into place.

“Your strategy is so abysmal it saddens me,” she drawled, pulling a chuckle from him. He made his next move so quickly she had to hold herself back from glaring.

“You have always been so quick to learn, I’m sure you will outclass me soon.”

She placed her next tile with a sharp click. “I already do.”

———

She had met Zhao five times, and honestly couldn’t say she was impressed. He was reckless, impulsive and ruthlessly ambitious in a way that couldn’t be guaranteed to benefit her - but he did have his uses. Unfortunately, those uses came with the cost of having to tolerate his presence.  
They largely boiled down to his fleet and his power, neither technically necessary to her task, but certainly helpful. She just had to refrain from burning him to ashes whenever he opened his mouth.

His ship was admittedly impressive, one of the newest models of warship in the navy. It was just a shame he was on it as they boarded.

“Thank you for joining me, Princess Azula,” he said with a bow. “I see you brought some... friends. They are free to wait in one of my rooms as we talk.”

Uncle opened his mouth, undoubtedly to say something vague and meaningless, but Mai eyed Zhao critically and said flatly “I see a mole rat crawled onto your face and died.”

It took years of rigorously trained restraint to not laugh at the his expression, rapidly flickering between shock, outrage and neutrality. Ty Lee either didn’t have this training, or didn’t care.

“Why don’t we have some tea?” Uncle suggested loudly. A good idea, for once, as most of the men on Zhao’s deck looked seconds from hysterically giggling like children.

“Of course,” Zhao said through gritted teeth. “Right this way.”

When they reached his quarters, stepping into the officer’s cabin, Azula pointedly gestured for Mai and Ty Lee to follow her in. Uncle followed, immediately passing the steward a box of tea leaves and politely requesting a pot and some cups. 

Mai dropped down onto one of the cushions on the floor, ever poised and elegant. Ty Lee’s sat on the desk, which wasn’t technically allowed, but Azula was enjoying the frustration on Zhao’s face. She sat neatly opposite him, accepting a cup of tea from uncle and carefully watching the commander.

“I heard you had a run in with the Avatar,” she said evenly. “Odd that that happened after I ordered you to wait out the storm and not pursue.”

“A misunderstanding, Princess Azula,” he assured her. “We were heading to a safe port when the Avatar attacked us unprovoked.”

“Of course,” she said. “Pacifist monks are a menace.”

Zhao’s eye twitched, but he quickly changed the subject. “I believe I have a way to capture the Avatar, within the next few days if we’re lucky enough to cross paths with him soon.”

“Oh? How fascinating.” Azula said, trusting her complete disinterest was getting through.

“Yes,” Zhao said, either oblivious or impressively optimistic. “The Yuyan archers.”

And that actually piqued her interest, but she kept her face neutral. “And you’re planning to shoot him out of the sky? Last time I checked, commander, he wasn’t an owl cat.”

“The Yuyan are legendary,” Zhao insisted. “Their skill is unparalleled. They can pin a spider fly to a tree from a hundred yards, without killing it.”

Interesting.

“And I have Mai to do that for me, so unless you have another vanity project you would like to discuss, I think we’re done here.”

“Princess Azula, with the archers’ skills and numbers, we can end this in a day-“

“And yet you haven’t,” she commented, studying his face over the rim of her teacup. “Why?”

That had struck a nerve. It only showed on his face for a split second, but she caught it and pushed harder. “You seem awfully confident in this plan. Why not carry it out?”

His smile was clearly forced. “Well, I didn’t want to continue without the blessing of my princess.”

“No, I don’t think that’s it.” 

His jaw clenched. “Princess, I don’t-“

“He can’t.” Mai cut in. “He doesn’t have the rank to force Colonel Shinu’s hand.”

The commander made to protest, but Azula held up a hand to stop him. “And you know I have the power to get you what you want.”

“No - us.” He insisted. “Together, we capture can the Avatar. Think about the power of our combined forces. We can share the glory.”

“I’ll consider it,” Azula said. “Don’t bother Colonel Shinu until I contact you, I’m sure he has important duties to attend to.”

“What is there to consider, princess? This either works and we get the Avatar, or it doesn’t and we find another option.”

“You haven’t given me a reason to ally myself with you yet. How do I know you won’t use me to get your archers, then steal the glory?”

“Princess, you have my word of honour. I would never even consider betraying you! You represent the Fire Lord himself, and one day you will take the throne-“

“I don’t need you to flatter me, I have Ty Lee for that. I will consider your offer. “

———

“You’re not going to consider it,” Mai stated when they were finally alone in Azula’s cabin.

“You really think that little of me?”

“I know you.”

“Obviously. Do you want to deliver my rejection?”

•••

Sokka had not let go for three hours, and Zuko was starting to lose feeling in his arm.

“I’m going to get some medicine,” Aang declared, glancing between Sokka, Katara and Toph. 

“I’m fine!” Toph snapped, but it wasn’t all to convincing when she immediately burst into a coughing fit. 

Zuko made to get up, but sighed when Sokka’s grip somehow tightened, and he muttered something inaudible into Zuko’s shoulder. “I guess I’m babysitting.”

•••

There were a lot more places to hide things on a ship than in a palace bedroom. The Dragon Emporer mask grinned up at her as Azula pulled it out from the box tucked amongst the pipes below the plating of her floor. 

Her eyes caught on the letters for a moment, and a weak, sentimental part of her considered taking them with her. It was something Zuzu would have done, but then again, he was the one who had gotten himself ‘killed’ on at least two occasions. She would give them to him when he agreed to join her - and he would, because he may be an idiot, but he had promised he loved her in every letter. Azula was a liar, and a very good one, but he wasn’t.

She slid the box closed silently, replacing it in its hiding place and soldering the metal back in place with a steady blue flame. She put the mask in a bag, beside the hideous knife Zuko had sent her, and slung it over her shoulder. No use changing until she was off the ship.

Ty Lee and Mai’s voices drifted out from Mai’s room as she slipped past, muffled through the metal walls. She wouldn’t have to worry about their interruption; they seemed perfectly happy distracting themselves. The crew seemed similarly preoccupied, and she made it out unnoticed. 

Stealth had always been Zuzu’s area of expertise, but Azula was a quick study.

When she left the small town and reached the top of a nearby hill, Pohuai Stronghold loomed in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give me attention [on my tumblr](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also someone did art!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> [It’s perfect and I’m in love ](https://jade-of-mourning.tumblr.com/post/637075784077606912/muffinlance-koiotic-i-spent-more-time-on-this)   
> 


	16. Sibling Bonding and Swords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko gets to take part in his favourite hobby, breaking into impenetrable fortresses. Azula likes it less.
> 
> And a surprise character I couldn’t help including...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This won’t be updated until next year after this lol 
> 
> Unless I suddenly become a functional human being, but... unrealistic

Zhao had lied. Not that Azula was particularly surprised, but she hadn’t expected him to so brashly disobey her direct order not to approach Shinu.

All in all, watching him get shut down was pretty entertaining, almost worth having to crouch on a roof like a frog squirrel, until a messenger hawk swooped in.

He had been made an admiral. And orders like that could only come from the Fire Lord. For the first time, Azula briefly contemplated treason - because calling the Firelord a fucking moron was definitely some sort of illegal.  
But Zhao had his archers, and Azula had to do something about it.

Next time, she was just hiring an assassin.

•••

June started coughing a few hours into the flight, but thankfully stayed lucid and healthy enough to threaten to drop Yue off the bison if she didn’t stop fussing.

“I’m fine, kid,” she snapped, a little hoarsely. “If you’re that bothered, just do your magic water thing.”

Thank the spirits, it seemed to work. June fell asleep a while later, leaving Yue at the reins under the moonlight.

She stopped briefly to send a letter ahead to Suki and let her know they were coming, but even the village seemed oddly otherworldly bathed in pale white light.

She always felt calmer like this, as if Tui was watching over her. It was quiet in a way, a break from the calamity and chaos that tended to follow wherever they went.

She was definitely worrying too much. Even if the others got sick, Katara or Zuko would figure out they could heal it with waterbending. Yeah, they would get there. It wasn’t like they were all dumb enough to forget they could do that.

•••

Zuko started worrying when dusk fell. He had fallen asleep at some point, though thankfully whatever illness this was didn’t seem to be contagious- or at least he wasn’t susceptible to it, because Sokka had been breathing on him for at least five hours. 

They should probably talk about that when Sokka wasn’t convinced Momo could earthbend. 

And also about what had happened on the boat, because that was a revelation and a half that he now had to process alone, while Sokka was very noticeably right next to him, and practically cuddling him. Well, not practically cuddling him. Very explicitly doing so. 

But no, he had to worry about Aang, who hadn’t come back for several hours. The Fire Nation had been close behind them in the storm, and he didn’t doubt they could have caught up by now. It seemed that the other three were all asleep, or close enough. Sokka was still making comments every few minutes, each making less and less sense. Medicine would also be great, because Zuko had taken to agreeing with whatever he said in an effort to get him to calm down, and it was not good for his grip on reality.

“Sokka-“ he tried pulling the other boy’s arms off him to no avail- “Sokka, I have to go check on Aang?”

“Who’s Aang?” Sokka slurred. “Is he the one that turned Appa into a shirshu?”

Okay, reasoning was not going to work.

“Sokka, the wizard who turned you into a platypus bear is back and I need to go talk to him.”

“No,” he mumbled, “I’ll be a platypus bear, don’t go...”

He groaned and slumped back against Nyla. The snort the shirshu let out was distinctly amused. “Sokka, please.”

“Ssshhh, be quiet-“

“I need to get you medicine-“

“I’m not going to suck on a frog!”

Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

“No one is making you suck on a frog, there’s no way that’s legitimate medicine.”

“And I don’t have a mouth.”

“Alright, you don’t have a mouth,” Zuko agreed. Hopefully the headache he was getting wasn’t a side effect of illness.

‘I have an idea,’ Vaatu chimed in, ‘and it may be stupid enough to work.’

‘Go on then,’ Zuko thought back. ‘Stupid might be our only option.’

———

He would have taken Nyla, but Nyla was currently the only one back there with a relatively able mind and body. He never thought he’d be trusting a half feral shirshu to guard his friends. He also doubted a prepubescent dragon was good supervision.

“Stay here,” he had told Druk, and it had only taken ten minutes of unlatching little claws and bribery with seal jerky to get him to stay with Toph.

She had been fast asleep next to Katara, but Zuko knew she didn’t like feeling vulnerable or unguarded when she rested. Sokka seemed to be similarly inclined. Or maybe he just wanted to hold onto Zuko, which was a whole other can of worms he didn’t want to think too hard about.

“I can’t believe your idea worked,” he admitted to Vaatu as he started walking. “I do feel kinda bad though.”

‘This is why you should trust in my guidance, vessel. I exist above the mortal plane, and understand all.’

“You had one singular good idea,” Zuko protested. “You told me to start a cult on seven separate occasions!”

‘And it was an ideal solution for all of them!’

“Okay then, oh great spirit of wisdom, how can I find Aang?”

‘I do not know where he is, but you should follow his path.’

“What if we don’t have time?”

‘I have an idea for that too.’

———

Ten minutes later, Zuko had only fallen flat on his face sixteen times, so he was definitely getting better at this. 

Actually no, he was awful at this and optimism wasn’t his style.

“I hate airbending,” he declared, partially to Vaatu and partially to the world at large.

‘It is the element of freedom,’ Vaatu said as Zuko tried again, managing to catch hold of the air currents, but quickly found himself on the ground in a disgruntled heap.

“Well it’s a little too free for me!”

‘I believe in you,’ Vaatu said.

He valiantly managed not to yell or set anything on fire. 

‘You could try Aang’s other method,’ the spirit suggested. ‘That looks relatively easy.’

“Aang is a master airbender, everything looks easy when he does it! And I’m not risking the air scooter for another twenty years!”

At least, he found himself thinking - a little sardonically, this couldn’t literally blow up in his face like firebending.

‘Vessel, I hate to say this, but Sifu Appa may not have been the best teacher.’

———

Zuko recognised the arrows immediately. He had never thought his childhood obsession with the Yuyan Archers would be anything but borderline embarrassing, but here he was. And unless things had changed since he had read any and every scroll on the Yuyan in Caldera, these were their arrows, and Aang was at Pohuai Stronghold.

Deadly iron points, ash-pine hafting and vibrant red fletching.

There were several embedded into the silt under the water and in nearby trees and logs - meaning Aang had been lucky enough to evade some of their shots. He wasn’t particularly worried Aang was badly hurt, because there was no blood and the archers were more than capable of restraining rather than maiming someone with their arrows.

Would he get to see the Yuyan Archers? Would it be weird to keep one of their arrows? Was he wasting time he should be spending tracking down and rescuing Aang?  
Vaatu’s response was yes on all three accounts. Zuko slipped one of the arrows into his bag anyway.

•••

Zhao had captured the Avatar. Somehow, the insufferable, incompetent imbecile had managed to capture the spirits-damned Avatar and Azula felt the urge to step out of her hiding place and congratulate him, because there was no way he would do anything anywhere near this impressive again. She also wanted to knock all of his teeth out, but either would unfortunately blow her cover.

Somehow, he had had a singular good idea. 

If she was feeling exceptionally generous, she might even say two good ideas. Because he had also managed to get his hands on another of the nation’s fiercest and most highly skilled warriors. 

The Yuyan and the Fire Nation’s most legendary swordsman would have been excellent additions to the Avatar hunt, if only Azula actually wanted the Avatar. If course she needed him captured, but she needed him captured by her. And Zuko, but she was willing to do it herself, kidnap her idiot brother and drag them both back to Caldera.

But no, Zhao had managed to mess up her plans simply by existing.

Maybe this was the spirits’ way of apologising to him for his terrible personality and facial hair.

Unfortunately for him, Azula was more than ready to destroy the spirits themselves to... (she repressed a shudder)... save the Avatar.

•••

There was a figure on the ground, dressed in casual blues, watching from the hilltop as they descended. A figure so familiar Yue found herself smiling before they even neared the treetops.

“Suki!” Yue yelled, far louder than she’d intended to. She felt a blush creeping over her face, but Suki was grinning and waving wildly.

“Yue!”

Yue was on her feet and off the bison before he even fully touched the ground, throwing herself into Suki’s arms.

“Hi,” Suki said softly, with a goofy smile that made Yue laugh and hug her harder. “I got your letter earlier. I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She buried her face in the crook of Suki’s neck, breathing in the smell of something earthy mixed with traces of the scent of Kyoshi Warrior makeup.

When she pulled back, not untangling herself from Suki’s arms yet, the other girl tugged her down slightly for a soft kiss. “I really, really missed you.”

“Were my letters not good enough for you?”

“I can’t kiss you through letters.”

“Hey,” June said dryly. “Great to see you, Sooks. I’m here too, by the way.”

Suki rolled her eyes and kissed Yue again, pulling her even closer. “Tell June to fuck off,” she murmured against Yue’s lips. 

“Suki, there are children here!”

“They can fuck off too.”

Despite herself, Yue found herself giggling, catching Suki’s hand and intertwining their fingers. Her skin was warm and calloused, and Yue could almost feel the metal fan in her hands, and the beautiful strength and power her girlfriend wielded it with. “You’re amazing.”

“If we’re having this conversation again, you have to let me go so I can get my list of reasons you’re amazing.” Suki leaned back a little, with a smirk that made something warm coil in Yue’s chest.

“You have a list?” 

“What did you think I did with my free time? Anyway, it’s mostly memorised,” she gave Yue a chaste kiss before continuing. “You’re the kindest person I know-“  
-another kiss -  
“You’re also the most beautiful person I know,”  
-kiss -  
“You’re the best waterbender I’ve ever met-“  
-another -  
“And you’ve apparently been dealing with Sokka for almost a month, so you’re clearly superior to all other humans in every way.”

Yue felt herself blushing hard, and a half delirious giggle broke out of her. “You’re incredible.”

“Well this is great, but I’m going somewhere I don’t have to see this,” June said from somewhere Yue wasn’t paying attention to. She found herself laughing quietly, and when Suki laughed too, the rest of the world dripped away like water.

•••

Piandao was, quite simply, too old to be dealing with this. And he wasn’t even fifty.  
He’d been pestered out of his early retirement-slash-desertion, and to add insult to injury, was being bossed around by an idiotic admiral with a superiority complex as stupid as his sideburns.

The only reason he was even here was because fighting off whoever the Fire Army sent to pester him was getting repetitive. Apparently they hadn’t learned with the first few hundred. Technically conscripted or not, he wasn’t exactly intending to be any sort of helpful or cooperative, so that was why he found himself alone in the courtyard instead of listening to Zhao’s mandatory-attendance ‘victory speech’.

Kidnapping a twelve year old wasn’t very impressive in his opinion.

Even at this distance, he could hear Zhao. How Jeong Jeong had taught the man with immolating him was truly a show of his restraint. Piandao still got the urge to run him through with his jian every time Zhao showed his face. 

He was sorely tempted to pretend he didn’t see the Blue Spirit breaking into the stronghold. He probably would have looked the other way and ignored him completely if Iroh’s letter to all members of the order wasn’t suddenly brought back to the forefront of his mind. 

‘I have reason to believe my nephew, Zuko, is alive.’

The odds of a presumed dead ex prince breaking into the stronghold Piandao just happened to be stationed at were minuscule. But he still found himself watching the intruder out of the corner of his eye as he ran katas with his sword. Dressed in all black with a grinning spirit mask that reminded him of something, with what looked to be a broadsword strapped to his back when he dropped silently from the wall into some bushes. A broadsword, or two dao blades that fit together as one when sheathed. The figure crouched under a low bench half hidden by supply crates, and seemed to be watching him for a good while.

Part of him hoped it was Zuko, and he could help finally reunite the boy with his grief striken uncle. Iroh had spent almost a year desperately searching for the boy, then another mourning when the news of his death reached the White Lotus. One son lost at Ba Sing Se, and the second killed by the Fire Navy. It was no wonder the retired general had become disillusioned with his nation.

The rest of him sincerely hoped Zuko wasn’t stupid enough to break into Pohuai Stronghold.

Then he remembered that this was Prince Zuko, the kid who somehow managed to get himself stuck on Piandao’s roof three times in one week, and he almost definitely was.

———

The Blue Spirit disappeared a few moments later, with almost unnerving silence. 

It didn’t last long.

•••

The door to Aang’s room - well, cell - opened with a resounding bang, that somehow didn’t summon a swarm of guards. He looked up sharply, and for a second the leering mask looked like Yue’s Red Spirit. But no, the figure darting towards him was shorter and far sharper in their movements. The mask looked familiar, he realised with a jolt. It was from the same play as Zuko’s Blue Spirit.

“Are you here to rescue me?” He asked hopefully.

No response, except for an arc of orange fire that sent him throwing himself back with a yell. But then the chains cracked, dropping to the ground heavily.

“I’ll... take that as a yes?”

The mask didn’t move, but Aang was sure he could feel the person roll their eyes. They turned sharply, gesturing for him to follow and striding off down the corridor before he could say anything else. He caught up quickly, half stumbling after them and deciding not to look to closely at the slumped forms of guards littering the hallway. Best not to think too hard about that. 

Then something under his shirt started wriggling, and several somethings made a mad dash for freedom.

“Wait!” He called. “I need to get my frogs back! My friends need to suck on them!”

•••

Azula changed her mind. She was going to capture the Avatar, tie him up in her brig and interrogate him, because what the fuck-

•••

The Blue Spirit reappeared almost ten minutes later with another masked individual, the Avatar, Zhao, several guards, and a gaggle of frogs in hot pursuit.

Piandao lowered his sword and just gave himself a moment to process that.

The other ‘spirit’, he realised, was the Dragon Emperor from Love Amongst the Dragons. Had Iroh not been kidding when he said he wanted to recruit the Ember Island Players into the White Lotus? 

The two spirits seemed to be working together, or at least not actively against each other, but the Avatar was glancing between them rapidly like he didn’t know what to do.

The three reached the base of the innermost wall, the one bordering Piandao’s courtyard, and for a moment it looked like they were cornered. Then the dragon masked spirit lunged at the wave of oncoming soldiers and a wall of fire, searing almost gold, exploded between them. There was an eruption of confused and furious yelling, but by the time anyone actually moved to deflect it, the Avatar was halfway up the wall, trying to yank the other two up with him.

The Dragon Spirit boosted them up with a jet of flame, but the Blue Spirit turned at jumped back to the ground, drawing two dao blades in one fluid movement.

Dual broadswords, just like...

A firebending soldier had managed to breach the flame barrier, but was quickly knocked pushed back, trying to dodge a flurry of slashes. The spirit ducked under a jet of flame, kicking the soldier’s feet out from under him as he went, before rolling back to his feet.

A really dumb but shockingly effective move. Just like-

Yes, he thought as the Blue Spirit attempted singlehandedly take out three more soldiers and somehow succeeded, that’s almost definitely the kid who tried to fight Jeong Jeong over turtleduck stew.

By the time the other two escapees had reached the top of the inner wall, the Blue Spirit had seven unconscious bodies at his feet, and Zhao looked murderous despite making no move to actually strike.

“Attack him!” Zhao ordered, and Piandao was too busy trying not to look impressed to initially register he was being spoken to. He considered pretending he had left his sword at home, but the Blue Spirit drew his swords and lunged so quickly it would have caught a lesser swordsman off guard.

Less than ten seconds into the fight, he knew it was Zuko.  
The kid still fought with all the ferocity he’d had as a child, and with the techniques Piandao had seen him drill over and over again for hours until they were perfect. And he still took a multitude of stupid risks that somehow always paid off.

“If you’re going to try a flip, make sure you don’t stick the landing,” he advised without really thinking, drawing a frustrated yell from Zhao.

“Don’t give your enemy performance notes!”

The next flip was definitely for Zhao’s benefit, and it was perfectly executed.

He could hear the commotion as the rest of the stronghold’s militants attempted to stop the Avatar and his other rescuer - who had just managed to get to the foot of the outer wall, if he was hearing correctly. He could also hear Zhao yelling something, but he elected to ignore that. The majority of people who worked for or with him did, anyway.

The kid fought well, and he couldn’t help feeling a little proud about that. He was precise and controlled, having lost some of the rashness he had been prone to as a child. Most, however, being the keyword. Because without the degree of precision and control he had, he would have impaled himself on Piandao’s sword and saved Zhao the effort of getting rid of him.

The fight was briefly interrupted as the Avatar and companion reappeared... using giant ladders as stilts?

But he didn’t let himself be distracted, almost dislodging one of the dao from his opponents hand - but he just shifted away, rerouting the force of the attack to the side. The parry sent a blade slicing air inches from Piandao’s throat.

He hoped no one could see that neither of them were trying very hard.

He ducked under a swipe of Piandao’s blade, actually managing to catch him off guard when the dao came up and almost wrenched it out of his hand. The swordsman used the force to pull him up and towards him, carving scratch into the mask before his jian was pushed aside. That could have been a killing blow without the wooden armour.

Then the wall behind them exploded, a large chunk crumbling into smoking ashes.

“Come on!” The Avatar yelled.

The Blue Spirit faltered for a second then awkwardly bowed to Piandao before making his escape. Yep, definitely Zuko. He should probably write to Iroh about that his nephew did in his free time.

•••

Azula considered breaking her cover just to call Zuko a dumdum, but she could do that later. 

But now she had to hold off a gaggle of soldiers to (shudder) help the Avatar escape Fire Nation custody. Zuko was fighting proficiently on the other side of the Avatar with only a pair of swords. Either his firebending hadn’t improved since he was twelve, or he’d had a coherent thought and not outed himself as a bender to the enemy. 

As soon as they reached the gate, Zhao’s soldiers closed in. For a moment, it seemed he had actually managed to do something right.

Then he announced “the Avatar must be captured alive!”

Azula rolled her eyes hard under her mask as she grabbed her knife and the back of the Avatar’s tunic in one motion.

There was a loaded, furious silence as Zhao glowered at her.

“Open the gates.”

•••

The walk backwards into the darkness was eerily silent. The knife was cold and wickedly sharp, pressing just a little too hard for his comfort, and he could barely hear the firebender behind him breathing.

Zuko was beside them, tense as a bowstring with his swords still poised to strike anything that crossed them.

The only warning Aang got was his rescuer tensing slightly behind him before there was an audible ‘poof’ sound and smoke obscuring his vision. Then hands pulling him sideways; he was about to make an escape when an arrow shot past them and buried itself in the ground with a dull thud.

“Good idea,” he muttered, allowing the hand on his arm to lead him through the smokescreen as he tried not to breathe it in.

The firebender didn’t seem fazed by either the smoke or inability to see, just guided him through it and finally out into clear air.

———

He glanced around quickly, scanning the clearing his rescuer had pulled him into. No sign of Zuko, but he hadn’t heard anything suggesting he had been hit or captured. 

The dragon mask was turned to him, and he felt like a spider fly under a magnifying glass as the figure silently studied him.

“Hi...” he said.

Thankfully, there wasn’t time to be any more awkward as the rustling and cracking of branches broke out behind him.

“Aang! Are you-“ Zuko appeared through the trees, mask in hand, then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the other person’s mask. 

“Zuko! This is-“

“Azula.”

Zuko’s eyes (well, one of them) were wide.

Aang whirled around, ready to jump back or run. “Azula?” He couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice.

She scoffed, the first noise she’d made since the stronghold, and slipped off the mask. Somehow, her makeup was immaculate and she looked totally composed. “Zuzu,” she greeted. “You’re finally developing deductive reasoning. Better late than never, I suppose.”

“What do you want?” Zuko demanded, pulling Aang away from her, one hand on the hilt of his sword, but she made no move to follow.

“I just broke your little friend out of Pohuai, you could start with a thank you.”

“Thank you...?” Aang tried.

“You’re welcome,” she said, then turned back to Zuko, eyes narrowing. “I’m not here to capture the Avatar until you give me an answer. My offer still stands.”

“No,” Zuko said instantly.

She sighed. “So short sighted. But naturally, I couldn’t expect you’d make this any easier for me.”

“So what are you going to do?” Zuko asked, tense and ready to draw his swords. 

“You think I’m going to try capturing your little avatar friend right now? I’m not the stupid one in the family, Zuzu. Zhao’s looking for a master firebender, and if the avatar shows up in my custody, it’ll raise a few eyebrows.”

“What are you going to do?” Zuko repeated through gritted teeth.

Azula just rolled her eyes. “I’m going to go back to my ship and get some sleep, and then probably get dragged into a game of pai sho-“

“Uncle’s with you?” Zuko cut in incredulously, losing all intensity in his voice for a second.

Azula frowned. “I’ve found it’s rather impossible to get rid of him, but I’m doing my best. You should stay away from him too.”

“Uncle Iroh isn’t-“

“This is all his fault!” Azula snapped, suddenly dropping her calm demeanour. “You should know better than anyone what he’s capable of!”

“Aang,” Zuko said tersely, not taking his eyes off Azula, “get back to the others. I’ll meet you later, I need to talk to Azula.”

“But the frogs-“

“Just go!”

———

There was no sign of movement back at the swamp, but Aang found himself scanning the tree line every few seconds anyway. He doubted Azula would break him out twice in one night. Zuko probably would, but Aang was still slightly worried about the fact he was alone with Azula.

He gathered the frogs as quickly as possible and quietly hurried back to where he had left them. 

The ground was ablaze with searing blue fire, he could see that much from the distance. But when he crashed into the clearing ready to fight, Zuko was sat alone.

“Zuko?” He swept back some of the fire with airbending, hurrying over to his friend. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Zuko didn’t respond, just got to his feet and smothered the rest of the fire with one movement.

“I told you to leave.” He said sharply. “Azula could have hurt you.”

“She could have hurt you,” Aang countered, hurrying to keep up as Zuko started a brisk walk back in the direction of the ruins.

There was no response, and Zuko stared purposefully ahead, refusing to look at Aang.

“What happened?” He tried again.

Zuko sighed, eyes dropping to the ground. “It’s a long story.”

Aang turned to look at Zuko. The firebender looked exhausted, and not from breaking in and out of a maximum security prison hold.

“What offer was she talking about?”

“She wants me to join her,” he said. “I told her no.”

“So... she wanted you to help her capture me?”

Zuko nodded tightly, clearly not wanting to talk any more about it. Okay, Aang could do that.

“So how did you get away?” He asked, fumbling for a way to lighten the mood. “Sokka seemed pretty... attached...”

Zuko cracked a tiny smile, seeming to lighten in more ways than one. “I wrote my name on a rock and gave him that. He didn’t seem the notice the difference.”

•••

“Zuko?” Sokka looked shocked, then turned to stare hard at the rock next to him. “But which one is the real Zuko?”

“The one that’s about to make you suck on a frog.”

•••

Raava didn’t make a habit of speaking to mortals. That was the only reason Tui noticed, and the only reason she looked any closer. She didn’t usually watch the other spirits, even though she could see everything under the moonlight - it was often dull, lacking the fascinating intricacies of the mortals.

The man was one she recognised, slipping through the veil on board a Fire Nation ship. Agni’s children were usually far more detached from the Spirit World, so that itself was a novelty.  
He didn’t seek out Raava; she sought out him.

“General Iroh,” Raava greeted, pulling him into her domain as he left the mortal world. 

He bowed to her. “Master Spirit, forgive me for not knowing your name. And I have not used the title of general for some time.”

“I am Raava,” she said. “I am the soul of the Avatar.”

His shock was visible, but quickly concealed. “It is an honour to be in your presence, great Raava.”

“I believe we can help each other,” Raava said. “Your destiny and your quest intertwine with mine and that of my Avatar. Your nephew has been caught in the crossfire, and I can help you save him.”

“He really is alive?” Iroh asked softly, with a hint of desperation.

Tui heard no more as Agni took her place in the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so close to letting Zuko punch Zhao in the face again...
> 
> Find me on [tumblr at koiotic!](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for reading! This idea's been bouncing around my head for months, so here is the product of my sleepless nights! I hope you enjoy, I'd love some feedback and constructive criticism ♥️
> 
> [Find me on tumblr!](https://koiotic.tumblr.com/)


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